A Shinobi's Childhood
by coriamber2014
Summary: A story about Kakashi's childhood up until the Kyuubi Attack. However, Kakashi is best friends with Obito and Rin. Most of the events that happened in the anime will still happen, including Minato, Rin, and Obito's death. Reviews are appreciated and they make me really happy. I don't own Naruto.
1. Chapter 1

_Inspired by Never More Than Eternal Rivals by KakashiKrazed and Nakama by LinSetsu._

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 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

The Three Sannin made their way through the Konoha streets. They had just returned from reporting to the Hokage, and Jiraiya was bored. He tried talking to his teammates about his latest Icha Icha novel, but after Orochimaru threatened to kill him and Tsunade punched him through a wall, he decided that it would be best for his health if he stopped talking.

Jiraiya yawned and looked around casually, as usual the Konoha streets were crowded with people...and beautiful women. He was just checking out this beautiful brown hair women when he spotted a child with silver hair next to her, a huge greyhound at his side. The child looked...familiar.

"Hey, does that child over there look familiar? I feel like I've seen him before…" Jiraiya said. Orochimaru and Tsunade looked at the child curiously.

"Huh. He does look familiar." Tsunade frowned and she studied the child closely.

"Well, only one way to find out." Jiraiya started to follow the child as he thanked the cashier politely and started walking away. Tsunade and Orochimaru followed him, though Orochimaru clearly didn't want to. The child carried the bag of groceries while the greyhound trotted beside him. They followed a path out of the center of the village, and soon they were the only ones around. Suddenly, the child dropped his bag of groceries, turned, and threw a kunai at them as the dog started barking. To their surprise, the kunai flew straight towards Jiraiya and would have hit him if he had not dodged in time.

"Why are you following me?" The child said to them angrily. Now that Jiraiya could see him more clearly, he could see that the child was wearing a mask. He looked about four years old, and had grey eyes and messy silver hair. He reminded Jiraiya of someone...someone he knew…

"You should show some respect to your elders, kid. Let me teach you why." Orochimaru licked his lips and stepped forward a step. The greyhound growled and bared his teeth at him, causing Jiraiya to hurriedly put his hand on Orochimaru's shoulder to prevent him from killing the dog.

"Hey kid, what's your name?" Tsunade asked the child.

"Kakashi Hatake." Realization struck Jiraiya. This was his friend Sakumo Hatake's son. The last time he had seen him was when he was a baby, no wonder he didn't recognize him.

"Kakashi! I almost didn't recognize you, you've grown so much. Don't you remember me? I'm Jiraiya, the Toad Sage! Wooer of women, defender of Konoha, and-" Tsunade smacked him on the head, none too gently. Jiraiya saw stars as Tsunade spoke.

"Sorry about that. What this idiot meant to say is that we know you're father, and we're friends. Well, at least me and Jiraiya are, but I'm sure he won't mind if Orochimaru comes along too. Can you lead us to your father's house?" Tsunade asked Kakashi kindly.

"Wait, I know who you three are. You're the Legendary Three Sannin! Father talks about you guys all the time! I show you to our house!" Kakashi ran over to take Tsunade's hand and started pulling her forward. Jiraiya smiled slightly to himself as he followed them. Seeing Kakashi so happy and innocent, Jiraiya couldn't help but feel a rush of affection towards the boy. Looking at Tsunade's expression, she clearly felt the same. Jiraiya glanced sideways at Orochimaru. Perhaps there was a chance that Orochimaru would too...nope, emotionless as always.

Soon, Jiraiya saw the Hatake Compound. Kakashi led them inside and took off his shoes.

"Father! We have guests!" Sakumo poked his head out of a room, and smiled when he saw them. He walked towards them and picked up Kakashi.

"Hello Jiraiya, Tsunade, Orochimaru. I wasn't expecting you."

"Well, we just came back from a mission and saw Kakashi. So we decided to visit." Jiraiya laughed sheepishly. Sakumo looked at Kakashi and set him down gently.

"Why don't you go out and play with Keiko? I have to talk with my friends." Kakashi nodded and ran to the back yard, the greyhound following him. As they followed Sakumo into a room, Jiraiya noticed that he couldn't see any signs of a four year old living in the house. There weren't any toys or drawings, there wasn't even a mess. Sakumo led them to a table which had a window overlooking the backyard. Outside, Kakashi and Keiko played tag with each other.

"Kakashi's grown a lot." Jiraiya commented. The last time he had seen Kakashi, he had been a baby, barely a week old. However, the mood had been somber, because Kakashi's mother, Asuka Hatake, had died giving birth.

"Have you been training him? He threw a kunai that would have hit Jiraiya had he not dodged away." Tsunade asked Sakumo curiously.

"Kakashi's actually in the Academy right now. The teacher says that he's the top of the class, and he can already do a Clone Jutsu." Sakumo proudly told them. However, Jiraiya couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding.

"Don't you think he's a little...young?" Jiraiya asked Sakumo. He knew that Sakumo knew Kakashi better than him, and he no doubt loved Kakashi. But Jiraiya didn't want Kakashi growing up too fast. While other four year olds would be playing ninja outside, Kakashi would be learning how to be a real ninja, and eventually, how to kill.

"This is a age of war. Prodigies like Kakashi needed." said Orochimaru, watching Kakashi play outside. Jiraiya glared at Orochimaru. He knew that what Orochimaru said was right, but it felt wrong training young children in order to win the war. Sakumo frowned and looked at Kakashi.

"Believe me when I say this, Jiraiya, I want Kakashi to have a normal childhood too. However, if Kakashi does not learn to defend himself, he could get hurt. Still, I'll make sure that he gets to be a child for as long as possible. He won't get sent on dangerous missions until he's a chunin, and I won't let him become one until he's at least 12." Sakumo sighed and turned to face the Three Sannin.

"There's something that has been worrying me. Last week, while I was waiting for Kakashi…"

 _Sakumo waited outside of the Academy. Today was one of the rare days when he didn't have a mission, and he wanted to spend the day with Kakashi. As he was waiting, Sakumo felt Danzo's chakra coming his way. 'What does he want.' Whenever Danzo was involved, it never went well. Even though Danzo was one of the Village Elders, Sakumo didn't trust him one bit._

" _Sakumo." Danzo stopped in front of him, his voice was cold and expressionless._

" _Danzo. What do you want?"_

" _I came here to make a deal. A deal that involves...your son." Sakumo looked at Danzo in shock._

" _What do you want with Kakashi?"_

" _I want to recruit him for Root."_

" _No way! I refuse. Kakashi isn't going to Root, he's only four years old." Sakumo wasn't about to let Danzo have Kakashi. He knew that Danzo couldn't take Kakashi without him agreeing first, and if he tried...he'll have the White Fang to deal with._

" _Kakashi has shown exceptional talent and intelligence for his age. Also, the younger he is, the more results he will show after he goes through our training. You will be wasting his talent if you do not agree."_

" _I don't care what you say, Danzo. Kakashi isn't going to Root, not now, not ever."_

" _Shouldn't a ninja of Konoha sacrifice everything for their village?" Danzo said to him, disapproval in his voice._

" _Since when did Konoha need child sacrifices?" Sakumo snarled back. Just then, the bell of the Academy rang and children started to come out._

" _You'll regret this, Sakumo." Danzo turned and walked away just as Kakashi reached him. Kakashi started telling him about all the things he learned today in the Academy, but Sakumo was only half-listening. Instead he was trying to predict what Danzo might do next, because a father is never going to put his child in danger._

Jiraiya clenched his fist. He had heard all about Danzo and his so called Root. Jiraiya had met a few ninjas from Root after their "training", they had no emotion, no feelings, nothing. They were basically tools. No, he would not let that happen to Kakashi.

"Don't worry Sakumo. If Danzo dares, they'll have the Three Sannin to deal with," Jiraiya glanced at Orochimaru, "well, at least two Sannins. Just leave Kakashi with us when you have to go on missions and we'll take care of him." Tsunade nodded in agreement. They all turned when they heard Kakashi squeal, and Jiraiya couldn't help but smile as Keiko pushed Kakashi gently to the ground and started licking his face. Looking at Kakashi's smiling face, Jiraiya swore to do everything in his power to keep his friend's son safe.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

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(One year later)

Kakashi walks into the classroom where the genin exams will be held. The classroom is filled with kids twice as old as him, and Kakashi tries not to react as everyone stares at him. After all, you don't usually see a five year old take the genin exams. Reiko-sensei clears his throat, and starts telling the rules of the exam.

"The exam will consist of two parts. Part one is the written exam. Part two is the practical exam, where you will be tested on your taijutsu, genjutsu, and ninjutsu. Right now you will do the written exam. You have an hour to do the whole thing. When you're done raise your hand." Reiko takes a stack of exam papers and starts passing them out. Kakashi looks at all of the questions on the exam. 'Is the exam seriously this easy?' Kakashi thinks to himself. He completes the test quickly and raises his hand. Reiko notices and comes over to Kakashi's desk.

"Don't worry Kakashi. If you don't know any of the questions you can give up, no one will blame you. I knew that you were too young-"

"Umm Reiko-sensei...I'm done." Kakashi couldn't understand why Reiko was staring at him in shock with his mouth open. What did he expect? The test was too easy.

"Y-you're d-d-done? In ten minutes?" Kakashi nodded. Reiko closed his mouth. He took the exam paper from Kakashi. The other students started whispering among themselves.

"He's done already?"

"How can a five year old be this smart?"

"He definitely cheated."

"Yeah. How else could he have known all the answers?"

"I bet he got it all wrong."

"He's too young. Why did the Hokage allow him to take the genin exam?"

Kakashi stared at the floor. He didn't know what he did wrong, all he did was complete the test. It was like this every time. When he first got in the Academy,

"Kakashi, you can go outside now." Kakashi looked up to see Reiko smiling down at him. Reiko then glared at the rest of the class, "And the rest of you can go back in completing your test, you have 40 minutes left." The rest of the class quickly turned back to their test as Kakashi went outside. Kakashi sat on the swing and looked glumly at the ground. 'What did he do?' A tear slid down his cheek and fell to the ground.

* * *

After 40 minutes, the Academy bell rang, signaling for lunch time. Kakashi took out his lunch and ate it alone on the swing. When he finished, there was still 20 minutes left of lunch, so Kakashi decided to watch a group of boys play tag. Kakashi smiled wistfully, they looked like they were having so much fun. However, Kakashi didn't ask to join. The last time he did…

 _Kakashi was four years old, and he was in a class with a bunch of 7 years olds. Their teacher had decided to let them have a bit of free time outside. A group of boys started to organize a game of tag. Kakashi hesitated, then got off the swing and walked over._

" _Hey. Can I play?" The other boys fidgeted and avoided looking at Kakashi._

" _Well...aren't you a bit young? We might accidentally hurt you." One of the boys told him. Kakashi was about to say that he wouldn't get hurt when he heard one of the boys whisper:_

" _He actually thought we would let him play with us? As if. He's a freak. How can a normal four year old be the top of our class?"_

 _Kakashi looked at all of the boy's eyes. He saw jealously, envy, and fear in them. Kakashi swallowed his hurt and managed to put an expression of indifference on his face. He turned to leave._

" _Never mind then. Like I care."_

Suddenly, a shadow fell over Kakashi. Kakashi had a bad feeling as he looked up and saw Akio. Akio was 11 years old, with brown hair and cruel green eyes. He was taking the genin exams for the second time, since he failed last year. Akio was the school bully, everyone was afraid of him because he was the oldest, biggest, and strongest student in the Academy.

"What are you doing all alone on the swing, midget?" Akio sneered at him, cracking his knuckles, probably trying to make him afraid. It might have worked on another kid, but Kakashi wasn't scared. He knew that he could beat Akio easily, Kakashi might not be as strong, but he was faster.

"Enjoying the weather, of course. Today's such a nice day, don't you think?" Kakashi smiled mockingly. The other students were watching now, no doubt thinking that he had a death wish. He could see a few people he knew: Asuma, Kurenai, Genma, Ebisu, Hayate, Yugao. He couldn't see Gai though, but Kakashi wasn't surprised. He had heard a story involving a green jumpsuit wearing kid challenging a group of aggressive cows to a fighting match, shouting something about "the power of YOUTH" and nearly being trampled to death. It wasn't hard to put the puzzle together.

"Today is a nice day...a nice day for taking the genin exams. I heard you were taking the exams, what are you, three years old?"

"I'm five."

"You look like you're three. And you know something? Three year olds are not smart enough to take the exams, much less pass it. Why don't you go run back to your mommy? Wait, you don't have one, you don't even have any friends. Maybe it's because your face is so ugly, is that why you wear a mask?" Akio started laughing, and Kakashi saw other people laughing too. The comment had hurt, and Kakashi felt angry at Akio and the people who were laughing. How was this funny?

"I'm five. And I'm going to pass the exams at the age of five while you're still going to fail, like last year. Besides, I have friends." Kakashi forced his voice to be calm even though he felt like punching Akio.

"Friends? Like who?" Akio pretended to look around. Kakashi looked desperately at the people who he knew, but none of them moved. Asuma looked down at his lunch box; Kurenai pretended to be busy fixing her shoes; Genma was fiddling with a stick; Hayate was watching a bird on a tree, pretending to be oblivious of what was happening between Kakashi and Akio; Yugao was the only one who was meeting his eyes, but while Kakashi could see that she wanted to help him, she was too afraid of Akio. Akio smirked as he opened his mouth to speak.

"See? Nobody wants to be your fri-"

"Of course Kakashi has friends. Friends like us, right Rin?" Obito sauntered next to Kakashi. Beside him, Rin stood facing Akio, and her expression was not her usual shy and timid one, it was one filled with confidence and surprisingly, anger.

Akio scowled and raised his fist. "You sure you want to stand up for that loser?"

Obito narrowed his eyes. "Kakashi isn't a loser, he's my friend."

"Do you want me to teach you a lesson?"

Obito stepped in front of Akio. "Try to hit me." Obito leaned in closer. "I...dare...you."

A tense silence dragged on for several seconds. Finally, Akio stepped back and lowered his arms.

"You're not worth my time anyway." Akio scoffed and walked away. Everyone went back to eating their lunch and started whispering about what just happened.

"Sorry we're late Kakashi. Rin had to stay behind and help me clean up my stuff. You see, an ink bottle spilled open in my backpack and stained everything." Obito chuckled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Thanks for standing up for me. You know that they'll be going after you guys next?" Kakashi said worriedly.

Obito smirked. "As if we're afraid of him. Besides, we'll beat him up together if he dares, right Rin?" Rin nodded in agreement.

"How did the exam go, Kakashi?" Rin asked him.

"I think I passed. If I did, then all I have to pass are the practical exams."

"Of course you did Kakashi! Just wait and see, you'll be the youngest genin ever!" Obito laughed and punched Kakashi on the arm playfully.

"Oww…I'll miss you guys though. I've always hoped that we would be on the same team. I guess that isn't happening now." Obito and Rin were his only friends in the Academy. Gai...he wasn't sure, he was too weird. At first Kakashi was put with students who were only one or two years older than him. At first he didn't stick out that much, people just thought he was a really short 6 year old. Kakashi had even made a few friends there. However, after a few months, the class had proved too easy for him, and he got moved up. After that, Kakashi was moved up class by class until he was known as the 4 year old genius in the school. That was when people started to shun him, and soon, no one wanted to be friends with the "scary Kakashi," except Obito and Rin...and Gai of course.

"Don't give up hope, maybe the Hokage will hit his head really hard and forget to assign you a genin team. Then after a few years we'll graduate and become a team!" Kakashi thought that happening had a less than 0% chance, but he didn't want to ruin Obito's mood. Just then the bell rang. Everyone started to head back to their classroom except for the people who were taking the genin exams.

"Good luck Kakashi!"

"You better pass the test!" Obito and Rin shouted as they hurried back to their classroom.

* * *

After everyone except his class had left, Reiko-sensei announced the rules.

"Each one of you will be called individually inside. The room is the first door on your right. Now listen, be respectful, the Hokage and a couple of council members will be there. If I hear that any of you goofing off or saying insulting things…" Reiko-sensei let the threat hang in the air.

"Good luck, all of you. First up, Ajubi Misa."

After a while, Misa came out smiling. "I passed!" Everyone congratulated her as the next student was called up. Kakashi's last name started with a H, so he would be somewhere in the middle. At least his last name didn't start with the last letters of the alphabet unlike Mira Yatsuki, who would have to wait outside for a long time.

Finally a voice called from inside. "Hatake Kakashi." Kakashi walked nervously into the building. As he passed Akio, Akio stuck out a foot, intending to trip him, but Kakashi jumped over it and kept walking. Kakashi went inside the room that Reiko-sensei told him about and faced the Hokage, three council members, and the head instructor at the Academy.

The Sandaime smiled kindly. "Hello first part of the exam will be taijutsu. You will spar with Hebi-san, taijutsu only." Hebi was the name of the head instructor, who was a serious man and hardly ever smiled. Still, many people respected him because he was fair to everyone and was polite to everyone. Kakashi faced Hebi, trying to predict what he would do. He knew that Hebi wouldn't go easier on him than he did for the other kids, and he was fine with that. Neither one of them moved for the first few seconds, then Hebi charged forward, pulling back his arm to punch Kakashi. Kakashi ducked under the punch, an action made easier because he was so short, and aimed a kick to Hebi's side, which was dodged. They exchanged blows for a minute, neither one hitting the other, then one of Hebi's punches landed on Kakashi's shoulder. Kakashi was thrown back and fell to the floor. He just managed to roll away in time to avoid Hebi's next strike, and punched Hebi in the side as hard as he could before he darted away. Hebi didn't even seem to feel it, however, and charged towards Kakashi once more. After a while, Kakashi started to get tired and got hit a couple of times.

"You two may stop. That was some good taijutsu there Kakashi." The Hokage marked something on his paper as Hebi returned to his seat. Hebi started to whisper something to the Hokage, and Kakashi was anxious that he did something wrong. Kakashi noticed that one of the council members, an old man with a bandaged right eye, was staring at him with a calculating gaze. Before Kakashi could think much more of it, the Hokage finished talking to Hebi.

"Next up, genjutsu. You shall attempt to break the genjutsu we will place on you, are you ready?" Instead of answering, Kakashi put his hands in a sign and shouted, "Kai." The genjutsu that had already been placed on him fell apart. The Hokage smiled and made another note.

"You're doing great. All there is the ninjutsu part of the exam. Can you henge into me?" Kakashi brought his hands together in a sign and became an exact copy of the Hokage.

The Hokage nodded. "Now perform a Substitution Jutsu with the chair over there." Kakashi switched places with the chair, and then switched back.

"Now create 5 clones." 5 identical clones of Kakashi appeared in the room. The Hokage turned to discuss with the other 4 people. The man with one eye seemed to be satisfied while the Hokage was hesitant. Finally, all 5 people turned to him.

"Hatake Kakashi. I hereby appoint you a genin of the Leaf Village. Here is your headband." Kakashi wanted to shout for joy on the inside, but instead he forced himself to walk calmly over to the Hokage and accepted the headband. Kakashi bowed to them and walked outside.

Akio was waiting. "Did you fail, midget?" His eyes widened at the sight of Kakashi's forehead protector.

"I passed." All the other students were shocked. Kakashi bet they were expecting him to fail, but he didn't care. Before he had come to school in the morning, his father had promised to come to pick him up. Kakashi couldn't wait to show his father.

'Father, I hope this will make you proud.'


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

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Kakashi waited in front of the Academy as the bell that signaled the end of school rang. He waved when he saw Obito and Rin.

Obito and Rin ran to him. "Oi Kakashi, tell me you passed because if you did not I will-"

Kakashi sighed. "I passed Obito. Look." Kakashi held up the headband proudly.

"That's so cool Kakashi, you must be the youngest genin ever." Rin said to him while running her hands over the leaf symbol on the headband.

Obito, Rin, and Kakashi talked while they waited for their parents. As time passed, more and more people left until only Obito, Rin, Kakashi, and Akio were left. Usually Kakashi would have walked home by himself, but today Sakumo didn't have a mission, and his father had said that he would be there to pick him up when the Academy ended. Kakashi could not have been more happy to spend time with his father. Because of the war, tensions were high between The Leaf and the Rock village, and Sakumo had been sent on more and more missions, so many that he barely had any time to spend with Kakashi. 'Maybe today father can teach me a new jutsu' Kakashi thought to himself, 'after all, he promised that I could choose what to do when we get home.'

Kakashi was in the middle of listening to one of Obito's story of why he was late today for school, not that he believed a word of it, when Akio strolled up to them.

"So you actually passed, midget?" Akio sneered at him, though Kakashi could see Akio's jealous gaze on his newly acquired headband.

"I did. And as expected, you didn't. Like last year, you failed." Kakashi said calmly.

Akio's face went red, he clenched his fists. "At least I'm normal, and my parents love me. How about your parents? Your mother's dead, and I've never seen your father before. Why doesn't he come to pick you up, huh? I bet it's because you're too freakishly smart!"

Kakashi wanted to ignore Akio and say a smart comeback, but he found that he couldn't. Sakumo barely had any time to spend with Kakashi, and while Kakashi knew that it wasn't his fault, Kakashi couldn't help but feel that Sakumo saw him second to the mission. Was it because Sakumo thought Kakashi was unnatural?

Obito and Rin looked at Kakashi worriedly. They knew that Kakashi's mother was a touchy subject for Kakashi, and that Kakashi was worried his father didn't love him. Rin felt anger at Akio, but felt puzzled as well, how did he know about Kakashi's parents?

Obito snarled at Akio and launched himself at him. Surprised by Obito, Akio was thrown onto the ground. Kakashi and Rin quickly pulled Obito off Akio. Obito had a bloody nose, but Akio had a black eye and a bruised ego.

"Take that, you idiot!" Obito shouted at Akio before he was pushed away by Rin and Kakashi. Akio's parents appeared just as they hid behind a bush, and fussed over Akio. Kakashi sighed in relief when they went home, he didn't want Obito getting in trouble because of him.

Obito glared at Kakashi and Rin. "Why did you stop me?! I would have made that filthy little-"

"Filthy little what, Obito?" Obito gulped when he saw his grandmother. "Who were you talking about?"

"No one." They all said back.

"Humpf. Let's go home, Obito. Say goodbye to your friends." Though Obito's grandmother tried to act mad, they could all see a glint of amusement in her eyes.

"Hehe, goodbye Kakashi. Goodbye Rin."

"Kakashi, Rin, if your parents agree you can come to eat at our house." Obito's grandmother offered.

"Sorry, but I'm busy." Kakashi said.

"Maybe my mom will agree…" Rin started to say.

"Most certainly not!" Kakashi turned to his left, and saw Rin's mother, Akira Nohara, walk towards them. Akira Nohara always had a ton of makeup on and wore expensive clothes. The Nohara family supposedly descended from a noble family. No one knew if that was true, but Rin's parents treated almost everyone with disrespect.

Akira grabbed Rin's arm with a vise like grip. "I don't think you know Rin, but this Uchiha is an embarrassment to the Uchiha Clan. Now, if you were to befriend Shisui Uchiha, a prodigy, wouldn't that make us more respected?" Obito, Obito's grandmother, and Kakashi were all glaring at Akira, but she didn't seem to notice.

"But mother, Obito is a great friend-"

"Oh, Kakashi, totally forgot about you. You're more than welcome to come to our house, of course. You could introduce us to your father."

"I'll decline." Kakashi said in an ice cold voice. "Anyone who disrespects my friend will not be welcomed by me or my father." Kakashi could see Akira was surprised he refused the invitation. Kakashi snorted, 'she probably expected me to be overjoyed.'

"No, no, I mean no disrespect. Well that's too bad, hopefully you can do it another time. Rin, come on, let's go." Rin mouthed a sorry at Obito and let herself get dragged away by her mother.

"Kakashi, I'll be going to. Congratulations on becoming a genin." Obito forced a smile on his face and walked off with his grandmother.

Kakashi sighed and went to sit on the swing. It had already been almost two hours since the Academy ended, looks like his father was going to be late again.

* * *

Akio stumbled home with his parents. After they were a safe distance from the Academy, Akio shouted, "Release." After the cloud of smoke cleared, in Akio's place stood...a Root operative.

Akio's "parents" also released their Henges and two Root operatives stood in their place.

"Have you succeeded in Operation 16589?" One of the Root asked.

The Root who impersonated Akio nodded. "I have successfully planted doubts about the target's father in the target's mind."

"Do you think it is time to proceed with Operation 28402?"

"I will watch the target. If an opportunity presents itself, then we will act." The Root impersonating Akio then disappeared.

* * *

Jiraiya was not having a great day.

He was walking home, rubbing a sore spot on his head. Today when he was "researching" near the women's bath house, he had accidentally sneezed, and was nearly beaten to death by angry kunoichis. 'At least I got out of there before Tsunade was called. Though I would love to see her in the bath house…" Jiraiya smiled pervertedly as he walked.

Jiraiya suddenly noticed a splash of silver in front of the Academy, and recognized the person waiting there this time. He wondered why Kakashi was sitting there instead of heading home, which Jiraiya knew that he was more than capable of doing. He was about to keep on walking when he sensed a person on the tree overlooking the swing. Jiraiya narrowed his eyes when he identified the person. 'Root. What are you trying to do, Danzo?' He quickly activated a teleportation jutsu and appeared in front of Kakashi.

"Hello Kakashi! Never fear, The Great Toad Sage is here!" Jiraiya struck a dramatic pose as he felt the Root agent's chakra flare slightly in shock.

"Jiraiya-sama? Why are you here? Is father going to be here soon?" Kakashi said with a hopeful expression on his face. 'So that's the reason why, that Sakumo…' Jiraiya sighed, he hated to disappoint the kid.

"See...your father had an important mission that came up right after you left for the Academy. He had no time to say goodbye. He won't be back for at least a week."

"I see…" Kakashi said sadly. Jiraiya saw disappointment, betrayal, and...anger? It passed quickly, but Jiraiya made a mental note to mention it to Sakumo.

"Jiraiya-sama?"

"Yes Kakashi?"

"Guess what? I became a genin!" Kakashi held up the headband. Jiraiya felt a sense of dread, Kakashi was a ninja now, at 5 years old. Jiraiya cursed inside his mind, the Hokage's signature was required for someone as young as Kakashi to take the exam. He was going to have a talk with his sensei soon.

For now though, Jiraiya put a smile on his face. "That's great Kakashi! Keep working hard and you'll be a great ninja. Come on, I'll walk you home and you can tell me about the exam on the way."

Jiraiya picked up Kakashi and put him on his back and started to walk towards the Hatake Compound. He pretended to listen to Kakashi when in reality he watched the Root agent on the tree. Jiraiya decided to summon one of his toads to watch Kakashi until Sakumo comes back.

* * *

The Root agent watched the Toad Sage and the target until they went out of sight. He turned on a radio.

"Was unable to complete mission because of the interference of Jiraiya the Sannin. Will try again when there is another chance."

His master's voice came through the radio. "We cannot wait. As Kakashi grows up, it will be harder for the training to stick. I will arrange for the White Fang and Jiraiya to go on different missions. With no one to watch over Kakashi, no one will notice he is missing until it is too late."


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

The Third Hokage was working through another humongous stack of paperwork when the door was thrown open. He looked up in mild surprise as Jiraiya walked in, expression furious. Inwardly he sighed, he knew this would have happened sooner or later when he had signed the form allowing Kakashi to take the exams and graduate if he passed.

"What can I do for you, Jiraiya?" The Sandaime calmly asked.

"Be quiet sensei, you know what! Why did you promote Kakashi? He's only five for goodness sake! I thought you cared about the children in Konoha." Jiraiya said angrily.

The Sandaime stood up and walked over to stand in front of the window. "I did not want to do it, Jiraiya. If I could, I would keep every child of the Leaf happy and safe from harm, but I can't. The Third Shinobi War is starting, and Iwagakure is preparing to attack. Konoha needs as many soldiers as it can get, and Kakashi is a born prodigy. If we hold him back with his age group, we would be wasting his potential." Signing that form had been one of the hardest things he had to do. Using his crystal ball, he had evaluated whether or not Kakashi was ready, and he was. The Sandaime saw Kakashi's intelligence and skills, but also saw the peaceful childhood that would be taken away from Kakashi. "I cannot weigh the sanity of one child against the whole of Konoha."

Jiraiya knew that his sensei was right, but that still didn't stop him from thinking that it was unfair and cruel. Jiraiya turned abruptly and walked over to the door. Before he stepped out, he paused with his hand on the handle.

"If you will not protect Kakashi, no matter the price, then I will."

* * *

Minato stood in front of the Hokage. He had no idea why the Hokage would ask for him, perhaps a mission?

"Minato, I have decided to appoint you a jonin-sensei." The Sandaime said with a smile.

Minato was surprised. "Me? But I only became a jonin last year, I thought you needed more experience to be a sensei?"

"Usually that would be the case. But this situation is...special. Kakashi Hatake, the genin I want you to train, is 5 years old. I would like him to be trained alone first, and when his age group has caught up, to be put in a team like the others."

Minato was trying to wrap his mind around the fact that a genin could be 5 years old when the name seemed familiar. "Wait, Hatake, as in Sakumo Hatake's son?"

"Yes. You don't have to decide right now if you will accept or not, I suggest you go meet him first." Minato nodded, he knew next to nothing about Kakashi, and wanted to meet this prodigy. He bowed to the Hokage and teleported away.

* * *

Minato knocked on the door of the Hatake Compound. The door opened almost immediately, as most jonins can sense a person coming before they even reach the door, and Minato came face to face with the legendary White Fang.

"Hatake-sama, I'm here to decide whether or not to take Kakashi as my student."

"You're Minato, right? Jiraiya's student?" Minato nodded. "Well, come on in. Kakashi's in his room, third door on the right. You can tell him you're watching him for me while I'm out." Sakumo winked at him and left the house. Feeling slightly guilty about preparing to lie to Kakashi, Minato walked down the silent hallway, he could sense Kakashi's chakra in his room, much more controlled and calm than a regular five year old's. He opened the door, and his first impression was...how adorable his potential student looked. Kakashi looked at him from his position on his bed, and Minato mentally shook his head and smiled in greeting.

"Hello Kakashi. I'm Minato, Jiraiya-sensei's student. Uhh...you're dad told me to watch you while he went out."

Kakashi looked at him suspiciously. "Why did my dad ask a jonin to watch me instead of my usual babysitter." Minato sweatdropped and tried to think of an excuse.

"She couldn't come today for some reason."

"She? My babysitter's a he."

'Okay, excuses won't work. This kid's too smart, at least that'll help him survive as a ninja. Plan B, distraction.' Minato thought to himself. "Hey Kakashi, you want to spar?"

That worked. Kakashi immediately forgot about his suspicions, or decided to save them for later, and went outside to put on his shoes. Minato grabbed Kakashi's hand and teleported them both to Training Field #3, which had one of his kunais stuck in the ground. Unlike the teleportation jutsu that most jonin used, Minato's Flying Raijin was instantaneous and did not leave any sign of teleportation at all. Most people didn't even notice that they were teleported at first, like Kakashi, who was wondering how they got here.

"Well Kakashi, show me how good you are." Minato settled into his combat stance, pulling out his Flying Raijin kunai. Kakashi quickly turned to face him, settling into his own stance.

"On a count of 3. 1...2...3!"

* * *

Minato was impressed. Kakashi was better than most, if not all, of his age group. For anyone else, that would have been enough to take Kakashi on as their student, but Minato wanted to know if Kakashi could be both a ninja and a kind person.

"I think that's enough for today, what do you say for some ramen?" Kakashi nodded tiredly, and Minato gently picked him up and placed Kakashi on his back. Inwardly he smiled, even though Kakashi had the abilities of a ninja twice his age, he still hadn't grown out of afternoon naps. Minato teleported them both outside the ramen shop, causing exclamations of surprise from the people there. However, Minato's attention was fixed on a familiar wave of beautiful red hair sitting on one of the seats in the ramen shop.

"K-k-kushina?" Under the sunset, her hair looked even more beautiful. Minato longed to run his hand through it, to feel its...Kakashi shifted slightly on his back, snapping him out of it.

"Ahh, Minato!" Kushina said loudly after slurping down her 10th bowl of ramen. Minato winced and hurriedly put a finger to his mouth. Kushina opened her mouth to ask why, then nodded in understanding when she saw Kakashi sleeping peacefully on his back. Minato let out a sigh of relief and sat down beside Kushina.

"Oh my goodness who is this? He's so cute!" Kushina whispered, one hand gently brushing the hair away from Kakashi's face.

"Kakashi Hatake, I'm still deciding whether or not to take him on as my student." Kushina's glare told him that he better agree or else, so he decided to wake Kakashi. "Kakashi? We're there." Yawning slightly, Kakashi opened his eyes, and squirmed off Minato's back onto the stool next to his.

"I'm not a baby, I don't need naps anymore." Kakashi said, pouting at him, which just made him look all the more adorable. Kushina let out a small 'aww' beside him, and Kakashi looked at her curiously.

"This is Kushina Uzumaki, my friend."

"Hello Kushina-san…"

"You're so cute!" Kushina leaned across Minato to ruffle Kakashi's hair. Kakashi scowled and leaned backwards to avoid her, almost falling off in the process. Minato steadied Kakashi with one hand, held Kushina back with another, and said, "How about let's all calm down right now. Teuchi-san, I'll have two bowls of miso ramen." Thankfully Kushina went back to her ramen, so Minato was able to question Kakashi without any distractions.

"So, Kakashi. Let's say you were on a mission to deliver a scroll with a team. What if your team was captured, and you had to choose between saving your comrades, or completing the mission, which one would you choose?" Minato said casually. Kakashi frowned, an expression that Minato could now see easier because Kakashi took off his mask to eat, and Minato still couldn't get over how much cuter Kakashi looked with his mask off. Briefly he wondered why Kakashi wore the mask, but Kakashi started to speak.

"Shinobi Rule #4 says that a mission must always come first...but father says that your comrades are important...I wouldn't want Obito and Rin to die either…" Minato guessed that Obito and Rin were his friends. "I would go save my comrades first, and then head home extra fast so I can complete the mission too!" Minato knew that usually it was impossible to do both, but he had found what he was looking for in Kakashi. He had always hated people who didn't care for their comrades, and he would have refused to teach Kakashi if he had said the mission first without hesitation. However, Kakashi was young, and such beliefs can easily be changed. Minato wanted to make sure that Kakashi will always uphold this belief, so what better way to do it than to take Kakashi on as his student?

"Kakashi, congratulations."

Kakashi looked at him confusingly. "Congratulations on what?" Out of the corner of his eye Minato could see Kushina beaming at him.

"For passing my test of course. From this day on, I'll be your sensei."

Kakashi's eyes widened in surprise. "I get a sensei?" Minato nodded, smiling at the eagerness of Kakashi. "Wait, do we have a team?" Though Kakashi tried to sound like he didn't care, Minato could see that Kakashi was hoping that he did not have a team. 'Hmm, maybe because of two certain people called Obito and Rin. I'll be sure to tell Hokage-sama about this.'

"Nope, for now, it's only me and you." Kakashi was about to respond, but at that moment Sakumo walked in and stood behind Kakashi.

"I'm glad to see that you've decided to agree, Minato. But right now I'll be taking Kakashi home." Kakashi jumped off the stool and started to walk out, but a look from Sakumo seemed to remind him of something.

"Thank you for the food, Minato-sensei. Goodbye, Kushina-san." As they walked out, Minato could hear Kakashi telling Sakumo all about his day, and hoped that the White Fang would approve of his methods.

Kushina slyly winked at him. "Kakashi grows on you, doesn't he. You better take good care of him, or else you wouldn't be able to walk again for a month!" Minato nervously nodded, he knew that Kushina was more than capable of doing that, she was a lot like Tsunade in that case. However, Minato had no intention of not taking care of Kakashi. This was his first student, and he was going to make sure to be a good sensei for Kakashi.

* * *

 _(2 months later)_

From their position on the Sandaime's head, they could see the whole of Konoha. The sunset cast a warm glow on everything, making everything seem magical and dreamlike. It was beautiful, but Minato had bigger things to worry about, based on what Jiraiya had just told him.

"So Danzo, a council elder, wants to kidnap Kakashi to train him into an emotionless tool, all for the good of Konoha. And you think that he might try it sometime this month because you and Hatake-san both had a month long mission assigned to you today?"

"Yes."

"Please tell me you're joking." Minato had only met Kakashi two months ago, but he already cared deeply for him. Minato also totally agreed with Jiraiya and Sakumo on their insistence to let Kakashi have a childhood, seeing that Kakashi was already too mature and serious for his own age. Now he knew Kakashi's sanity was in danger, he was not happy at all.

"I'm not. Try to watch him without making it too suspicious, or else Danzo will send you on a mission too, and no one will be able to protect the kid. Make excuses for him to come to your house, put one of your tags on him, whatever, just make sure he's safe, okay?" Minato nodded seriously. He was not going to let anyone, council member or not, get their hands on Kakashi. "Very well, I leave him in your hands. You do know that if something happens to him, Sakumo will kill you."

"I do, but I have no intention of letting Kakashi get hurt."

"I'm counting on you, Minato." Jiraiya put his hand on Minato's shoulder, then left for his mission. Minato watched Jiraiya head towards the gate, and from another direction, he saw Sakumo going too. 'I won't let you down, sensei, Hatake-san.' Minato summoned a toad to watch over Kakashi while he arranged for Kakashi to be at his house tonight for a valid reason.

After a few minutes, Minato appeared in front of the Hatake Compound, and found Kakashi training. 'Sheesh,' Minato thought to himself, 'I've got to introduce a hobby to him or something, all he does is train.'

"Hey Kakashi! Want to come over to my house for dinner? Kushina's cooking."

Kakashi looked up from where he was practicing the Clone Jutsu. "Thanks sensei, but it's fin-"

"Great." Minato grabbed Kakashi and they disappeared. Kakashi made a muffled sound of protest as they landed in his kitchen.

"Sensei, I said n-"

"Kakashi! So glad you could join us." Kushina walked toward them carrying a large bowl of ramen. "Let's eat." Minato picked Kakashi up and placed him in a chair. He had told Kushina about Danzo, and her initial reaction had been to go up to Danzo and punch him in the face, but he had talked her out of it.

"I said-" Kushina pulled down his mask and stuffed a spoonful of soup into his mouth, halting his words. Minato smiled brightly and started to eat his ramen, "It's delicious Kakashi, you try." Kakashi gave him a disgruntled look and finally gave up trying to refuse.

* * *

8 Root agents knelt before their master.

"The White Fang and the Toad Sage have left the village, we shall act tonight. Dismissed!" The Root agents disappeared into the shadows, and Danzo allowed himself a small smile. After tonight, the White Fang's son shall be his.

* * *

 **Bwahahahaha Evil Danzo.**

 **By the way I usually respond to reviews through Private Messaging. However some of the fanfictions I've read respond by writing it in their stories before they start. If you would like me to respond by writing it please tell me through the reviews.**

 **Next chapter should be out in a week or less.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

 **Respond to Guest:**

 **Obito will fully die except some of the events caused by him will still happen like the Kyuubi Attack and the Uchiha Massacre.**

 **I can't write fight scenes...sorry if it's horrible.**

* * *

Minato was wondering how to watch Kakashi for the rest of the night when he saw Kakashi yawn. An idea formed in his head.

"Kakashi, you tired? You can stay here for tonight if you want."

Kakashi stubbornly shook his head. "I'm fine, sensei."

Kushina immediately caught up with Minato's plan. "I'm sure Minato wouldn't mind, right." Kushina glared at Minato, and he nodded nervously in return. Kakashi opened his mouth to refuse, but another yawn forced its way out, and his head started to feel too heavy to lift. "Ok, if it isn't too much trouble…" Just before his head hit the table, Kushina picked Kakashi up in her arms.

"There's a spare room to the left." Minato said quietly. Kakashi was already fast asleep when Kushina placed him in the bed, and tucked him in gently.

"Alert me if something happens, okay?" Kushina asked him worriedly. He smiled and ruffled Kakashi's hair gently, "Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to him."

After Kushina left to go to her own house, Minato activated the traps that surrounded his house. He then went to his own room, which was across from Kakashi's, and fell into an uneasy sleep, hoping that Jiraiya's suspicions were false.

* * *

Minato lived in a plain, single-story house with a small backyard. However, a barrier that surrounded the house alerted the owner if someone came within 100 feet of it. Numerous traps also surrounded the house to ward off unfriendly visitors. It was hard, if not impossible, to go in unnoticed.

Outside of Minato's house, just outside the barrier, seven Root operatives waited for their captain to confirm their orders.

"Target is in his sensei's, Minato Namikaze, house. Should we proceed with the operation?" The captain spoke into his radio.

There was a pause. "Continue the operation, but proceed with caution. Namikaze will not be easy to deal with. Remember, failure is not an option."

"Yes sir." The Root captain clicked off his radio and signaled to the rest of the Root operatives. Every single one of them was powerful enough to defeat two jonin at a time, but they knew better than to underestimate their opponents, especially when their opponent was one of Konoha's best seal masters. They also knew that if the mission was to fail, they would die, either by the hands of their master, or themselves.

* * *

Minato woke up suddenly, his senses blaring in alarm. His seals told him that four people have broken into the barrier, and were heading towards the east side of the house, where Kakashi's room was located. Minato quickly grabbed his weapon pouch from the bedside table, and teleported to Kakashi's room. In Kushina's house, he had placed one of his Flying Raijin markers, in case Minato's house was attacked. Minato quickly teleported Kakashi to Kushina's house, knowing that Kushina would come up with an excuse for Kakashi about why he was in her house, and immediately created a clone, who henged into Kakashi. Minato quickly crouched in the shadows, ready to ambush the intruders if they managed to break into the house. Now he could only hope that Kushina could alert the Hokage in time, and that he could hold the intruders off until the reinforcements get here.

Suddenly the window to the room where Kakashi was sleeping started to glow a pale yellow. The light flickered once, twice, then a light popping noise came from the window, and stopped glowing. Minato tensed, the intruders were good if they managed to undo the seal he personally put on the window. The intruders were most likely from Root, however Minato couldn't be sure until he saw them personally. There was no movement for the next few minutes, then without warning, a kunai shattered the glass and streaked towards Minato. Immediately, Minato felt 4 more people cross into the barrier, then felt the barrier shudder once, and disappear. He dodged the kunai with a simple tilt of his head, and blocked the sword that was swinging towards his head with a kunai of his own. The person wielding the sword had a long black cloak and an ANBU mask that looked like a Hawk on, confirming Minato's suspicions. Either the person could be from ANBU, or they could be from Root, and since Minato knew that the Sandaime would never order such an attack, that left the other option: Danzo was behind this.

Hawk, the Root agent facing Minato, leaped back and threw a smoke bomb down. Thick, dark smoke filled the small room, blocking Minato's vision. At the same time, Minato felt the tip of a sword, one on each side on him. There was no time to dodge.

Blood splattered the floor.

* * *

Hawk quickly motioned for the last Root agent, who had a Tiger mask on, to bring the target, whom he had placed a genjutsu on when he shattered the window, to where the other four were waiting while two Root agents were distracting Minato. The smoke was already clearing, and they had to act fast. However, just as Tiger moved towards their target, a yellow blur appeared behind Tiger and slammed a kunai on top of his head, knocking him out. Hawk looked back at where he had last seen Minato, and saw the other two Root agents lying motionless on the floor. 'A shadow clone.'

"Why are you here?" Minato demanded. Hawk did not respond, and instead threw a kunai, not at Minato, but at Tiger, killing him instantly.

Minato's eyes were filled with anger. "What did you do that for? I thought you were his teammate?!"

"We were ordered to not let any of us get captured alive." Hawk said in an emotionless voice. He charged forward, holding his sword out in front of him, and feinted to the left. However, Minato didn't fall for and blocked his sword strike with his right hand. With his left hand he threw an unusual three pronged kunai, which Hawk easily dodged. In a lightning fast movement, Hawk disengaged his sword from the kunai and swung his sword in a wide arc, aiming towards Minato's unprotected right side, when he suddenly...disappeared.

'What?' Hawk turned around, then quickly leaned back to avoid a deadly slash from Minato. Instead of harming him, the kunai sliced his mask in half, causing it to fall off.

Minato's eyes widened. "You! You're Fumio Hyuga!"

* * *

2 years ago, Fumio Hyuga, a talented chunin with lots of potential, disappeared in the middle of the night. Konoha tried to find him, but couldn't find a trail. It was as if he just disappeared off the face of the earth. Eventually as time passed, the Hokage declared him dead and a funeral was held. Now, however, it appears that Fumio was not dead after all, but why did he join Root? Minato had worked with Fumio before. Fumio was confident, reckless, but cheerful and full of energy. It was hard to imagine that he would ever willingly join Root, so that meant that...he was forced to.

Fumio frowned, "My name is not Fumio Hyuga, I have no name." Minato felt a pang of sorrow, the happy boy that Minato once knew was gone. In his place stood an emotionless tool for the village, all because of Danzo. This was what could happen to Kakashi if Danzo gets his hands on him, and Minato was determined that it was not going to happen.

Fumio held his sword in both hands, and drove it into the ground before him. "Byakugan!" Veins appeared around his eyes, and his fists started to get coated with chakra. 'Danzo must have forbade him from using the Byakugan unless he needed to or else people would know that he's from the Hyuga Clan.' Minato thought to himself, though that didn't help him much. If he took one hit from Fumio in a vital spot, he was as good as dead.

Minato needed to finish this quickly before the other four Root agents got suspicious and came to investigate. Fumio looked over at Kakashi, and scowled. "It was a clone all along." Seeing no point in wasting his chakra any longer, Minato dispelled the clone and held a kunai in each hand. Fumio sprang towards Minato, aiming at Minato's vital points. Minato dodged it easily and threw one of his kunais into the wall behind Fumio, creating a shadow clone at the same time. Fumio quickly backed away from the wall, but not before the clone was able to teleport to the kunai and place a seal on Fumio's left arm. While Fumio was busy with the clone, Minato gathered chakra in his right palm.

"Rasengan!" Minato teleported in front of Fumio and thrusted a Rasengan into his stomach, but controlled the strength so that it wasn't enough to kill him. Fumio was sent flying back into a wall, and slid down, unconscious. Just then Minato heard a familiar voice outside his window. "Minato!"

Minato looked out the window and saw Kushina waving at him, relief clear on her face. Beside her was the Sandaime and a team of ANBU. Minato jumped out of the window to land in front of them.

"Hokage-sama."

"Kushina already told me what happened. Kakashi is sleeping in Kushina's house, being watched over by an ANBU." Minato was glad to hear that Kakashi was safe, and he wanted no more than to see Kakashi right now, but he had more important things to do.

"Hokage-sama, I have proof that Danzo is behind this." The Hokage narrowed his eyes, but nodded for him to continue. "I was attacked by ninjas dressed in ANBU attire. One of the ninja's mask fell off, exposing his face, and I recognized the shinobi. It was Fumio Hyuga." The Hokage motioned for one of the ANBU to go up and check. Seconds later, the ANBU laid Fumio's unconscious body out in front of them.

"This is most definitely Fumio. Take him to T&I, make sure that Danzo does not know about it." The ANBU nodded and disappeared with Fumio. The Hokage sighed and turned to Minato. "I'll deal with Danzo, you're dismissed. I'm sure Kakashi has lots of questions for you." Minato mentally groaned, trying to think of a legitimate excuse.

Minato stood up, and saw that Kushina was staring at him with murderous eyes. Minato nervously walked towards her. "Hey Kushina…" Kushina suddenly punched him, hard, in the gut. Minato doubled over in pain, he should have expected that.

"You idiot! You were fighting against them yourself? Why didn't you run after you teleported Kakashi to me?" Kushina shouted at him. Minato hurriedly put up his hands in defense. "I needed to make sure who was behind it, and I knew that you would get reinforcements in time." Kushina took a step closer, and for a moment Minato was afraid that she was going to punch him again. Instead, to Minato's surprise, she suddenly threw her arms around him and hugged him.

"I'm so glad you're alright." Before Minato could react in anyway, she took a step back and started walking away. "Now let's go see Kakashi." Minato looked at the Sandaime helplessly, who shrugged and whispered "Women" as he left to go back to the Hokage's tower. Minato rubbed his still sore stomach and ran to catch up with Kushina.

* * *

"You called for me, Hiruzen?" Danzo said as he walked into the Hokage's office.

"I did, Danzo." The Sandaime sat up straighter and looked at Danzo in the eyes. "Do you remember that two years ago, a chunin by the name of Fumio Hyuga, disappeared?"

"I thought you declared him dead?" Danzo was a good liar, the Sandaime couldn't detect any change in his breathing or chakra. But even Danzo couldn't lie his way out of this one.

"I did. But you know something, I recently found him...in Root. It seems like you have something to do with it. I also have proof that you have tried to recruit Kakashi, regardless that his father didn't want him to be in Root. Tell me, what reason do you have to be doing this?" The Sandaime said calmly, while on the inside he was seething with anger and betrayal. But he cannot show weakness right now, especially in front of Danzo.

"I did it for the good of Konoha. Their talents were wasted, so I took it upon myself to help them reach their potential. You are too soft, Hiruzen." The Sandaime could see that Danzo truly believed that he was right, which disgusted him. However, Danzo was too important to Konoha to be severely punished. The Sandaime didn't want to admit it, but without Danzo and Root, Konoha would lose a lot of its power. Therefore he could not kick Danzo out of the village or execute him, and it seems that Danzo knows it himself.

"Konoha does not raise their children so they can become tools. The Will of Fire burns brightly in each of them, what matters is not the power of fists, but the power of love. You are to hand over all of the children you forcefully took without the consent of their parents to Inoichi, who will help them become normal human beings again. If I ever catch you doing this again, you will regret it."

Danzo sneered. "You were always naive, Hiruzen. You will regret this." Danzo stalked out of the room, and the Sandaime was left wondering why Danzo's idea of protecting Konoha was so different from his.

* * *

At 5:00 in the morning, Minato and Kushina finally reached Kushina's apartment. A lot of things had happened, and all Minato wanted to do was rest. However, before that...

"Sensei, why did you teleport me to Kushina-san's apartment?" Kakashi was sitting on the couch, and had an annoyed expression on his face. "I tried asking Kushina-san, but she said that you knew better than she did."

Minato looked at Kushina, who was giving him the 'it's your problem not mine' look. He sighed, he hated lying to Kakashi but the Hokage ordered him to not tell anyone, including Kakashi. "Well, I had an emergency mission, and I didn't want you to sleep alone in my house, so I sent you to Kushina's apartment." Kakashi's expression told Minato that he did not appreciate being treated like a little kid. 'Some things never change, like Kakashi will never admit that he's a little kid.'

Kushina clapped her hands and smiled widely. "Well, who's hungry?"

* * *

A messenger bursted into the Hokage's office, startling the Hokage and the client he was speaking to.

"Hokage-sama, Iwa has attacked one of our outposts near the border."

The Hokage felt his heart sink. This was not good, Iwa breaking the peace treaty meant one thing. He had been expecting it to happen sooner or later, but it didn't mean that it was any easier to handle.

"War has begun."


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

 **BTW: Tora means Tiger in Japanese.**

* * *

The Third Shinobi War, has begun.

Immediately after informing the village of the upcoming war, the Hokage had started to send out ninjas to outposts throughout the Land of Fire, probably to keep the village's mind off the war. All around the village, you could see ninjas saying tearful goodbyes to their family. Thankfully, Minato, Kakashi, Kushina, and Sakumo had not been sent out to outposts. Kakashi was just a genin, Minato and Sakumo were to provide a strong defense, and also a strong offense that could be sent out to places that needed help. Kushina was staying in the village to provide defense as well, and even though Minato wasn't complaining, he wondered why the Hokage didn't send Kushina to an outpost. After all, Kushina was mainly a front-line fighter, not a defender.

Ninjas that had experienced the Second Shinobi War were giving advice to the younger jonins and chunins. On the outside they acted calm and collected, but Minato could see fear in their eyes. War was never a good thing. War meant chaos, calamity, and death most of all. The death of one ninja may seem insignificant to a war strategist or a commander, but back home, their family, friends, lovers, would be mourning the loss of a that person. However, war was also inevitable in the ninja world. Jiraiya-sensei had told him about this cycle of hatred, and how he believed Minato to be the Child of the Prophecy, but Minato had no idea how he was supposed to stop it.

Minato was brought out of his thoughts abruptly when Kakashi yelled, "Sensei!" in his ear. Minato sheepishly rubbed his neck, "Sorry Kakashi, what did you say? I was thinking."

Kakashi gave him an unimpressed look before saying, "What are we doing today, sensei?"

Minato smiled mischievously. "A D-Rank mission!" Ignoring Kakashi's groan, he carried on. "It's a very important mission, coming from the Daimyo's wife herself. You have to capture a ferocious beast, and bring it back _unharmed_ in any way. The beast's name is...Tora."

"Is the beast a tiger? Is it going to be dangerous and difficult?" Kakashi smiled widely and eagerly accepted the scroll that contained the mission details. Halfway through reading it his eager expression was replaced with a gloomy one. "What ferocious beast? It's a cat for goodness sake!"

"Now, now Kakashi, no complaining. A mission is a mission after all." Minato smiled brightly and started walking toward the forest where Tora was last seen. No way was he going to let Kakashi go on a C-Rank mission before he turned ten. Until he did, he just had to do all the D-Ranks. Kakashi scowled and started to follow him.

* * *

Kakashi was really starting to hate that cat.

Minato-sensei had left him to find Tora on his own, claiming that he had important things to do. After an hour of wandering around in the forest, he had found Tora up in a tree. After another hour of attempting to coax the cat down using fish and pleads, Kakashi had tried to climb up the tree to carry Tora down. That's when it ran into the village, and now Kakashi had no idea where that animal was. 'I bet Minato-sensei's hiding, laughing at me right now.' Kakashi thought to himself as he looked everywhere for Tora. He groaned, looks like he's going to have to ask people. He approached two women talking near a fountain.

"Good morning. Can you tell me if you've seen a cat like this today?" He held up a photo and prayed to whatever god was up there that they would just tell him and go back to their talking. Unfortunately, they reacted how Kakashi expected them to.

"Aww, you're so cute!" One of them squealed, leaning down to pat his head.

"I know him, he's the White Fang's son!"

The other women gasped. "So you're the famous Kakashi I've been hearing about. A prodigy, aren't you, so smart at such a young age! I bet you're going to become a great shinobi, like the White Fang."

The first women nodded. "You're going to grow up to protect us all, just like your father. The village is glad to have you."

Kakashi sighed. Everyone always treated him with respect, not because of his hard work, but because his father was Konoha's White Fang. It wasn't that he didn't want to be compared to Sakumo, but Kakashi wished that people would judge him based on _his_ skills, not his father's.

"Anyway, have you seen this cat?"

"Oh yes. I saw that cat go that way." Kakashi thanked them and headed towards the direction they pointed at. After asking a few more people, he finally found Tora in an alley. Tora turned and tried to run away, only to find that it was a dead end.

"Finally I've got you, you stupid cat." Kakashi muttered under his breath as he took out some rope and charged towards Tora. The cat and the boy struggled, each trying to get the upper hand, before Kakashi finally overpowered Tora and tied her legs together.

"Great job Kakashi! Sorry I took so long. Now let's return her to the Daimyo's wife." Minato-sensei finally decided to show his face, _after_ Tora was caught. Kakashi glared at him, and winced as the scratches from Tora started to sting.

"You're evil, sensei."

* * *

 _(After a few weeks)_

Kakashi had just finished weeding what felt like the tenth garden of the day. He was so tired of doing D-Rank missions. Minato-sensei had said that he couldn't do a C-Rank mission until he grew a little older, which was so unfair. Why would they graduate him if they were just going to let him do D-Rank missions for 5 years? Sometimes he regretted becoming a genin, at least if he was in the Academy he wouldn't have to do chores all day. Of course he knew that because of the war, even genins were out in the battlefield delivering messages and supplies. Since he was the youngest genin, he had to do all the D-Rank missions by himself. But that still didn't stop him from complaining how unfair it was.

Kakashi was pulled out of his internal complaining when Minato spoke. "That's it for today, Kakashi. Tomorrow you don't need to get here so early since we won't have any missions tomorrow."

"No missions? Why?" Kakashi said, confused.

Minato answered with a soft smile. "I thought your memory was good, Kakashi. Tomorrow's your birthday." His birthday! Kakashi had totally forgot about that, which is quite understandable since there was a war going on. Kakashi waved goodbye to his sensei and started to walk home. He wondered whether Obito and Rin would remember and show up, he hadn't seen them in a while. Then his thoughts turned to his father. Last year he was on a mission when it was Kakashi's 5th birthday. However, he had promised to be there for his 6th birthday. Kakashi smiled, eager to show his father just how much he had improved since he had graduated from the Academy.

* * *

"Father, I'm home." Kakashi said as he walked inside the house. He smiled as he tugged off his shoes, thinking about tomorrow, when he looked up to see Sakumo looking sadly at him. Kakashi's smile faded. "What's wrong?"

Sakumo sighed. "I...have a really important mission...tomorrow." Kakashi stared at him for a few moments, not quite comprehending what he had just said. Then realization struck him. "You promised…"

"Kakashi, I'm really sorry. But it's a really important mission-"

" _You promised!"_ Kakashi felt betrayed. He had promised, and his father never broke his promises that he made to the people he loved. Right? Did that mean that his father didn't love him? Kakashi thought back to Akio's words:

 _At least I'm normal, and my parents love me. How about your parents?_

 _I've never seen your father before. Why doesn't he come to pick you up, huh?_

"Do you not...love...me?" Kakashi said, his words filled with hurt. A few tears slid down his cheek.

Sakumo's eyes widened at the unexpected words. "Of course I love you, Kakashi."

"Then, why do you never spend time with me? Everyone else's parents come to pick their child up. Everyone else's parents spend time every day with their child. Every...Everyone else's parents are there for their child's birthday." Kakashi sniffled, and wiped his eyes. "Sorry, dad. I was so disappointed I wasn't thinking clearly. I didn't mean any of it."

Sakumo gently picked up Kakashi and placed him on his lap. "Nah, I deserved it. Sometimes it's not so great to have an important ninja as your father. The Leaf village needs me to do important missions all the time, and I don't have any time in between them to spend time with you. You don't deserve that, Kakashi. I'm sorry."

Kakashi noticed that there were more lines than usual lining his father's face, making him have a tired look. Kakashi felt guilty, here he was, having a tantrum about his father not being there for his birthday, while his father was out there fighting for the village.

"I'm sorry, I'm just being selfish." Kakashi muttered, head down.

Sakumo smiled gently and lifted Kakashi's head up with one finger. "Every child deserves to have their parents there on their birthday. Since your mother...isn't here anymore, I'll do my best to be there for the rest of your birthdays."

"Every one of them?" Kakashi looked at his father, eyes hopeful.

"Every one of them. The mission I'm going on could end the war, then we'll have more time together." Sakumo confirmed. "We'll celebrate on the day after tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay."

"Good boy. Now let's have dinner." Kakashi scampered after his father to the dinner table, his heart feeling lighter after the conversation he had just had. He knew that his father never broke a promise twice, so he definitely would be there for all of his next birthdays. Nothing could stop him from being there, right?

* * *

Kakashi woke up early, as usual. He got up and made himself breakfast, his father already gone on his mission. Kakashi was halfway through the meal before he remembered that it was his birthday. Instantly his mood brightened as he finished his breakfast quickly, put on his scarf and jacket, and ran out the door. Kakashi took a deep breath of the fresh morning air and started to walk towards the training grounds where he and Minato usually met. Even though Minato had told him to not come so early, Kakashi had nothing else to do in the morning, and decided to wait for his sensei in the training grounds rather than stay in his house, so he was surprised to see Minato and Kushina already there.

Minato sighed when he got near. "I knew you were going to get here early. So I figured we would just be early with you." Kushina grinned at him, "What do you say about some ramen to celebrate?"

"Kushina, its 8." Minato said.

"So?"

A moment of silence passed as Minato debated whether or not it was worth it to risk his life to say why they couldn't have ramen so soon after they had eaten their breakfast. Eventually, he decided that it was not worth it. "Nothing."

"Great. Let's get you an extra large bowl to celebrate, Kakashi!" Kushina grabbed Kakashi and practically dragged him to Ichiraku Ramen.

"Teuchi! Its Kakashi's birthday, what do you say for an extra large bowl of miso ramen? I'll have five bowls of pork ramen."

"I'll have a bowl of chicken ramen please, Teuchi-san." Minato said politely.

"Okay, coming right up!" After a few minutes seven steaming bowls of ramen were placed in front of them. Kushina was already finished with her first bowl before Kakashi or Minato had even started. Not daring to face Kushina's wrath for refusing to eat ramen, Minato and Kakashi started on their ramen, though quite a bit slower than Kushina.

"Minato-sensei, Kushina-san, do you guys have a mission in the afternoon?"

"Yes, that's why training is cancelled. Don't worry though, it's a really simple mission. Kushina and I are just going to deliver supplies to an outpost and return in the night." Kushina had already finished her ramen and were eyeing Kakashi's and Minato's, who both pushed their ramen towards her. While they were waiting for Kushina to finish, Minato and Kakashi started to talk about different techniques and jutsus. The sun was warm on their backs, and Kakashi felt comfortable and content.

Unfortunately, time passes by quickly when you're having fun, soon it was noon, and Minato and Kushina had to go. Kakashi accompanied them to the gate.

"Bye, sensei, Kushina-san. Come back safely."

"I almost forgot, Happy Birthday Kakashi!" Minato and Kushina each took out a brightly wrapped present.

"I didn't know you brought presents." Kakashi said, surprised. Kushina gave him a cheeky grin and they turned and began to walk out of the village.

"We'll be back before you know it!" Minato said. Kakashi watched as they grew smaller and smaller until he couldn't see them anymore. He then turned around and decided to wander the village, not having anything else to do. As he passed in front of the Academy, he paused for a moment. Kakashi had only spent a year in the Academy, and most of his memories there weren't exactly pleasant. However, there was one moment which he would never forget. One moment which he would treasure forever. One moment when he felt like he belonged. The moment when he, Obito, and Rin became friends.

 _Today, for some reason, their whole class behaved extremely well. So, in order to reward them, their sensei gave the class a free period._

 _Kakashi had just entered the Academy a month ago, and he was the youngest, and smartest one in the class. Kakashi looked around and saw that everyone else was chatting and playing with their friends. It wasn't as if his classmates didn't like him, but everyone had heard of the legendary White Fang. He knew that most people wanted to be on good terms with the White Fang, so parents told their children to make friends with him. On his first day, half of the class had come up to him, acting all friendly, but Kakashi could see that they were faking it, so he avoided them. The other half of the class thought he was arrogant and gossiped about how he only got into the Academy because of favoritism. Soon, Kakashi found himself isolated from the rest of the class._

 _Kakashi searched in his backpack for a scroll or a book to read, but found that he hadn't brought any to class. He sighed and rested his head on the desk. Looks like all he was doing for the next hour was sitting at his desk._

 _After a few minutes, two people walked towards his direction, their names were Rin Nohara and Obito Uchiha. Kakashi thought they were going to the group of people in the row behind him, so didn't pay much attention to them. He was surprised when they stopped in front of his desk._

" _You're Kakashi Hatake right?" Obito said loudly. Obito was loud and clumsy, but he was friendly to everyone and also determined. Kakashi nodded, wondering what they wanted._

" _Nice to meet you. My name is Rin, and his is Obito. What you did yesterday was so cool, where did you learn to throw shurikens like that?" Rin asked. Rin was shy and unconfident, but she was really nice to everyone._

" _My father taught me."_

" _What? My grandmother never let me touch a single shuriken or kunai, saying that I'll stab myself with it. As if!" Obito said angrily. Suddenly he smiled. "Hey, do you want to be friends? We can be like the Three Sannin! Rin wants to be a medical ninja, so she can be like Tsunade. I'm not sure if I want to be Jiraiya or Orochimaru. Jiraiya's cooler, but I heard he was a pervert."_

" _Obito! That's disrespectful to Jiraiya-sama."_

" _Ohh, Jiraiya-sama is it? Anyway, how about it, Kakashi?_

 _Kakashi's father had always said to choose his friends carefully, could he trust them? He looked at Obito and Rin's open, honest eyes._

" _Okay!"_

Kakashi smiled to himself at the memory, and was about to keep walking when he heard running footsteps coming towards him and a familiar voice.

"Kakashi! You idiot where have you been?"

"Obito! Rin!" Kakashi turned and saw Obito running towards him, while Rin walked more calmly behind him.

"Hello Kakashi." Rin said as she took out a pristinely wrapped present. "Happy Birthday."

"You guys actually remembered that it was my birthday?"

Obito blushed and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Well...no, Rin had to remind me. Anyway, happy birthday." Obito handed him a present that was obviously wrapped in a hurry.

"Thank you. Sorry I didn't have time to see you."

"What kind of missions have you been doing, huh, Kakashi?"

As Kakashi chatted with Obito and Rin, he felt a sense of contentment and happiness. Though, for some reason, he had a feeling that something bad was going to happen. However, that thought was quickly forgotten when Obito and Rin surprised him with a birthday cake. Little did Kakashi know that something bad was about to happen, to his father, 50 miles away.

* * *

 **I have some important projects that are due next week so the next chapter won't be posted for a while. Sorry.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

Sakumo carefully looked around the corner at the room where the scroll was located. Currently, Sakumo and his team were in a hidden outpost in the Land of Earth. Their mission was to steal a very important scroll that would help Konoha win the war. He turned back to his three teammates.

"Listen, here's the plan. You three are going to hold off the guards while I go and grab the scroll. Be careful, but know that I'm not leaving any of you behind." Two of his teammates nodded while his friend, Norio Adachi, smiled encouragingly at him. He and Norio had been best friends since they were in the Academy and had been on the same genin team, he trusted Norio with his life.

"On my signal." Sakumo waited until the two guards that were guarding the room were facing the other direction before raising his hand and made the "go" signal. Moving too fast for the guards to see, Sakumo quickly appeared in front of them and killed them with his tanto. But one of the guards managed to yell, "intruders!" before dying.

Sakumo silently cursed under his breath as twenty guards came running out. His teammates quickly surrounded him, hiding him from sight. When no more guards were coming out of the room, he quickly Body Flickered around the guards and raced inside the room. Two Rock ANBU stood between him and the scroll, which he could see lying on the desk. Sakumo held his tanto in front of him, knowing that he had to make this quick, and attacked.

The two ANBU were good, but even the two of them couldn't defeat Sakumo. However, it would take him some time since he couldn't use any of his large scale jutsus in case he accidentally collapsed the building and hurt his teammates. Sakumo saw an opening, and managed to kill one of the ANBU. The second one was more cautious now and attacked more carefully, but it was all in vain, and Sakumo was about to kill him when he heard one of his teammates shout, "Norio!"

He quickly looked back, and his eyes widened when he saw Norio on the ground, a Rock ninja standing above him, one foot planted on his chest. The Rock ninja held a kunai, and stabbed downwards. It was then when Sakumo had to make a choice. He could either continue his attack on the ANBU, grab the scroll, then escape the outpost, completing the mission, or go back, and save Norio. Sakumo knew that the scroll would save hundreds of lives, but he couldn't let his friend die. He turned and threw his tanto, killing the Rock ninja instantly. Sakumo then rushed towards Norio, helped him get up while picking up his prized tanto.

Norio looked at him in shock. "What are you doing, Sakumo? Get the scroll!" But it was too late. Sakumo could sense reinforcements outside the outpost, and heard the sound of an exploding tag hissing. He quickly grabbed Norio and his other two teammates and broke a hole in the wall. Sakumo just managed to run for another five meters before the exploding tag went off. He threw himself on top of his teammates, shielding them from most of the blast. Sakumo grunted in pain when he felt several stone fragments bury themselves in his back, but he didn't move until the dust and debris from the explosion settled.

Sakumo stood up and pulled his teammates to their feet. "Are you guys okay?"

To his surprise, Norio pushed him away. "Am I okay? Why did you not go for the scroll, you idiot?" His two other teammates glared at him angrily.

"I couldn't just leave you to die!" Sakumo replied.

"Maybe you should have." Norio turned at looked at the rubble that was once the outpost. "Now, because of your actions, the mission is a failure. Even if the scroll wasn't crushed by the falling rocks, we don't have enough time to dig it out before more Rock reinforcements come."

"Norio..." Norio turned away, pretending that he didn't hear Sakumo speak. "You're my best friend. I don't regret my decision, I made my choice, and I stand by it. I won't allow you to die if I can help it."

"I would have died a _thousand_ times if it meant that the war would be over and that my two year old daughter could grow up without knowing the horrors of war." Norio looked at him coldly. "What you did today was a horrible thing. You have just endangered everyone in Konoha, all the people that would die because of you, all the people who would feel the pain of losing their loved one, all the _children_ who would grow up and be forced to fight in the war for their village before they're even ready. You, are the cause of that, traitor." He looked back at where the Rock ninjas was regrouping and leaped away, heading towards Konoha. Sakumo's other two teammates followed.

Norio's last words echoed in his mind. It had hurt more than any injury that he had ever gotten, even more than that time when he got stabbed in the gut. Did his best friend hate him now? Sakumo took one last look back at the ruined outpost, then took off and followed his teammates, not knowing what awaited him once he went back to Konoha.

* * *

"Traitor!"

"You abandoned the mission!"

"Why did you even bother coming back?"

"How dare you still wear the Leaf headband? The moment you abandoned the mission you were no longer a Leaf shinobi!"

"You betrayed us! And you still come back like you belong here?"

"I would kill myself before I abandoned a mission like you did!"

Minato looked worriedly at Sakumo as he walked away, not responding to the taunts and jeers of the crowd. He walked up to a civilian and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Umm, excuse me? What happened?"

The civilian snarled and looked angrily at Sakumo's direction. "That traitor abandoned a mission that could have ended the war just to save his teammates. He must have been out of his mind!" The civilian turned away and continued shouting insults at Sakumo. Minato backed away from the crowd, feeling slightly disgusted at the crowd. True, Sakumo might have just caused the death of hundreds for the lives of a few, but Minato felt like what Sakumo did was justified.

"Sickening, isn't it?" A familiar voice said suddenly from behind Minato. Minato turned, "Jiraiya-sensei? When did you get back?"

"Today. I decided to come back to visit, and saw _this_."

"Sensei? Is it true that…"

"Yes, it is. But Sakumo does not deserve to be ridiculed for his decision. It might not be a decision that most people would agree with, but it was a honorable one nevertheless." Jiraiya said while looking at the crowd with narrowed eyes.

Minato didn't know what to think. Logically, completing the mission would save more lives, but could he do that if it meant abandoning Kakashi, or even Kushina to death?

Before Minato could think further, a jonin dashed in front of Sakumo.

"You piece of scum! You don't deserve to be in Konoha." He raised his fist, and even though Minato couldn't see Sakumo's face, he could tell the Sakumo had no intention of dodging the blow. Jiraiya started forward, intent on blocking the blow for his friend, but a small figure ran in front of Sakumo before he could do it. The blow connected, and the figure was sent flying with a cry of pain, a very familiar one.

' _Kakashi!'_ Minato darted forward and caught Kakashi before he could crash painfully into the wall. The blow had landed on Kakashi's left shoulder, and by the looks of it, the jonin had used chakra to strengthen the blow. Minato sent an icy glare in the jonin's direction, and was about to demand an apology, but looked at Sakumo in surprise at he started speaking in a calm voice.

"How dare you hit my son?" Sakumo's face was full of wrath, but the jonin was either really stupid or really brave, because he kept talking.

"I'm surprised that your son didn't start renouncing your name and breaking ties with you already, but I guess I shouldn't, after all, he is your son, and sons take after their fathers. Why should I care that I accidentally hit a future traitor?" The rest of the crowd started throwing suspicious glares at Kakashi and murmuring amongst themselves as if they thought that he would turn traitor right that second. Minato looked down at Kakashi, and saw him look back at the crowd with a look of betrayal and shock. His shoulder looked bruised and swollen, and Minato suspected that it was dislocated, though he couldn't tell for sure.

Suddenly everyone felt a heavy wave of killing intent, one that promised pain and misery. The crowd shrank back and cowered in fear, trying to get away from Sakumo, the source of the killing intent. However, Sakumo wasn't focused on them.

"You hit my son, and called him a traitor. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you on the spot right now!" The jonin was filled with fear as Sakumo advanced on him, expression furious. The kind and understanding Sakumo was gone, in his place stood the merciless White Fang, ready to attack whoever hurt his son.

"P-p-please don't hurt me...you can't harm a fellow shinobi of the Leaf…" He broke off as Sakumo grabbed his collar and lifted him off his feet. Minato wasn't sure if Sakumo really was going to carry out his threat or not, and he would have found out if Kakashi had not spoke.

"Father...please stop."

* * *

Kakashi had never seen his father like that before. Sakumo had always been caring and gentle with him, and had never shouted or hit him. His father didn't speak in that cold, ruthless voice.

Sakumo turned to look at him, and Kakashi saw the truth of what Sakumo just did dawning in his mind. Sakumo slowly set down the jonin, and walked over to Kakashi.

"Kakashi, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Sakumo said gently, returned to the father that Kakashi always knew. However, the feeling of Sakumo's killing intent came back to Kakashi, and he shrank back fearfully and averted his eyes.

"Kakashi." Kakashi hesitantly looked at his father, and the memories of Sakumo taking care of him when he was sick, comforting him when he was sad, and praising him when he easily completed an exercise that was meant for a genin, overpowered the image of him threatening the jonin.

"Father." Sakumo gently ruffled his hair, then turned to Minato.

"Minato, can you please take Kakashi to the hospital? I'm afraid my presence there would be...unwelcomed." Minato nodded, and Sakumo said to Kakashi, "I'll wait for you in the house Kakashi, okay?" He then turned and walked calmly towards the Hatake Compound, posture straight and head held high despite the glares and hateful murmurs he was getting along the way, and Kakashi felt a flash of admiration towards his father. Kakashi also saw Jiraiya hurrying after Sakumo, and hoped that he could cheer his father up.

"Come on Kakashi, let's get you to the hospital." His sensei lifted him up gently and teleported to the Flying Raijin Tag he always kept in the hospital.

It turned out that his shoulder was dislocated, and the process of setting the bone back in the right place was excruciating, but Kakashi held back any cries. He wouldn't allow people to find another reason to dishonor Sakumo.

"Sensei?"

"Yes, Kakashi?" Minato had stayed beside him the whole time, eyeing people suspiciously, but it appeared that news of the failed mission hadn't reached the hospital yet.

"I heard what happened to father, but why are people mad at him? I would have done the same thing if that meant saving my best friend."

Kakashi saw Minato hesitate before he replied. "Your father faced a choice, Kakashi. Save his teammates, or end the war and save hundreds of people. He chose to save his friends, and people felt he chose the wrong one. I hope you never have to face a choice like that, Kakashi. If you save your teammates, the rest of Konoha will condemn you; if you complete the mission, the families of your teammates will condemn you. It's a no win situation."

"But that's not fair."

"Nothing is fair if you're a shinobi. That's the price you pay, the sacrifice you make, whenever you put on that headband. You have to stay loyal to Konoha, no matter what horrible things are done to you. Many shinobi in Konoha go rogue or insane because of that reason."

"But father will be alright, won't he? He's the best ninja there is, nothing scares him." Kakashi looked out of the hospital room window. Konoha seemed peaceful under the warm sunlight, but he wondered how many other shinobis were currently suffering for the good of the village, how many other shinobis were currently receiving the same unfair treatment like his father. Kakashi remembered the suspicious looks he had gotten from the villagers, even when he had done nothing wrong. He shook his head, clearing the thoughts. Eventually the villagers would get over it and come to see that he and Sakumo had done nothing wrong, and everything would go back to normal. People weren't that short sighted.

* * *

 _(A month later)_

Kakashi walked down one of the more uncommonly used streets of Konoha, still tired from training. Sakumo rarely came out of the house anymore, and it was up to Kakashi to buy supplies, cook meals, clean the house, and earn as much money as he could from doing D-Rank missions. However, their money was running out, and even though Sakumo had tried to apply for a mission, he was always refused. No one trusted the White Fang on missions anymore, not that they trusted him at all anymore. _'One mistake,'_ Kakashi thinks to himself, _'That's all it takes for everyone to abandon you and your 6 year old son.'_

He remembered when he had went to his father's best friend, Norio's house to beg for a little money.

 _Kakashi knocked on Norio's door. Norio and Sakumo had always been best friends, and Norio would sometimes take care of Kakashi when Sakumo was out on a mission. Kakashi would always help take care of his daughter, Ai, who was just a toddler, and play with her. There was an unspoken agreement that if one family was in trouble they could always go to the other for help._

 _The door opened, and the familiar face of Norio appeared._

" _Norio-san, please, my father's banned from going on any other missions. Can you spare a little money?" Norio was one of the teammates that Sakumo had saved, so he would be thankful to him, right?_

 _To Kakashi's surprise, however, Norio shook his head. "Kakashi, what you're father did was his own fault, he deserves his punishment. However, unlike some other people, I know that you don't. You can get food from our place, but I won't give any to your dad."_

 _Kakashi felt anger rise up inside him. His father had saved Norio, and he not only refused to help Sakumo, but he also offered him food if he betrayed his father?_

" _No thank you, Norio-san, I'll refuse. My father did nothing wrong, and he doesn't deserve any punishment at all." Kakashi turned and started to walk away._

" _If you side with a traitor, you are a traitor. From this day, don't come to our house ever again!" Norio said after him and shut the door. Kakashi choked back a sob, remembering Norio's kind smile, his wife's gentle hug, and Ai's bright laugh. He would miss Ai most of all, she was almost like a little sister to him. She would probably grow to hate him from all the biased stories she was going to hear growing up._

' _Goodbye, Ai. I hope you grow up safe and sound, and no matter what you think of me, you will always be my sister. And I will always, always, love you forever.'_

Kakashi forced himself to not think about all the bitter thoughts and turned his thoughts to a happier thought. Earlier today, Minato had told him that he had nominated Kakashi for the chunin exams. Kakashi was excited, maybe if he got promoted to chunin the village would finally respect him and forgive his father. He wondered how hard the chunin exams were going to be. Apparently the first part of the exams was going to be a written test, so it should be easy.

Kakashi was debating whether or not he should study or if he should just wring it when he realized that he had accidentally walked into one of the crowded streets. Almost immediately, people started whispering.

"Look, the traitor's son."

"Soon he'll betray us too."

"So powerful at a young age, what would he do when he grows up?"

"I bet he'll become a missing-nin."

"We should just imprison him right now."

"I heard he got recommended for the chunin exams."

"What? He's just going to betray us."

Kakashi ignored them as best as he could and kept on walking, with his posture straight and his head held high, like his father told him to. He tried to focus on making a list of what he should do when he gets home. _'Hmm, the dishes need washing, the floor needs to be swept, and the garden needs to be weeded.'_ However, he soon gave up and just tried to hurry home. He had started avoiding crowded streets because of all the whispers and glares he gets.

Suddenly, the same jonin that had hit him stepped in front of him and blocked his way.

"Well, look at that. If it isn't the traitor's son."

Silence descended over the street as everyone gathered around to watch them. _'They can't resist the chance to see the traitor's son getting taught a lesson.'_ Kakashi thought. Kakashi ignored him and tried to walk pass him, but he threw out a arm to stop him.

"What?" Kakashi said calmly, looking up at the jonin.

"Do you know something, traitor? My friend, he went on a mission to eliminate some Iwa scouts, and he never came back. I got the death notice this morning." He help up a paper, and seemed to grow angrier. "The mission would have never happened if your father had just completed his mission, but now, my friend is dead. It's not just him either, did you know that one month after that failed mission, 10 leaf ninjas have died. Deaths that _your father_ could have prevented, deaths that _your father_ caused!"

Whenever Kakashi heard someone say anything bad about his father, he had gone up to them and defended Sakumo, but they always turned away and say "like father, like son. Don't listen to him." Now, this person had just basically accused Sakumo of being a murderer. Kakashi knew he should have just let it go, but he couldn't just let this person have his way.

"My father is not a murderer or a traitor, he's an honorable shinobi of the Leaf! I believe that his choice was the _right_ one, and I don't care about _your_ opinion, or anybody else's."

The jonin's face darkened with fury. "So? You're just a _kid_ , a _traitor's_ kid. Your father almost killed me a month ago, and he killed my friend! He doesn't deserve to be in the village anymore, and neither does you!" With a movement too fast to see, the jonin punched Kakashi heavily in the stomach. Kakashi felt a searing pain in his stomach as he flew back and crashed into a wall. He heard some people murmur.

"Isn't this too harsh?"

"No, the traitor deserves it."

"Yeah, he actually defended his father!"

The jonin grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up. "Apologize and I might let you live."

Kakashi glared back, and spoke loudly so everybody in the street could hear, "What? Too scared to say this in front of the White Fang, so you go beat up a 6-year old instead. Coward."

"Shut up!" He threw him violently onto the center of the streets, and Kakashi hit the ground hard. "Nobody will help you now, traitor."

The jonin took out a kunai and hurled it at Kakashi. Kakashi quickly rolled to the side, but was a bit too slow and the kunai hit him in the side. Kakashi tried to get up, but the jonin planted his foot on his chest so he couldn't move.

"This time I won't miss." The jonin hissed as the kunai descended towards his heart. And Kakashi knew if nobody helped him, he would die.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

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The kunai descended, and Kakashi closed his eyes and braced for the pain.

Kakashi waited, but the pain never came. He opened his eyes and saw that a hand had stopped the kunai in its track. Kakashi sighed in relief when he saw who had stopped the kunai.

"Sensei."

* * *

Minato tightened his grip on the jonin's wrist, preventing him from stabbing Kakashi. He had forgotten to give Kakashi the chunin exam papers, and had hurried after Kakashi to give it to him. When Minato arrived, he had never felt so afraid in his life, or never so angry.

"Who are you?" The jonin said angrily. Minato could barely contain his anger. This person was going to kill Kakashi, _his_ student!

"Minato Namikaze, sensei of Kakashi Hatake." Minato said, trying to keep his voice calm, and he watched the jonin's eyes widened in recognition. Most people in the village knew that he was Jiraiya's student, and one of the most powerful ninjas in the village. Minato normally was polite to everyone and hated conflict, but this...this was unforgivable.

"I see that you and everyone watching don't have any regrets in killing a 6-year old, so I won't waste my breath attempting to convince you why it is wrong. If in 10 seconds I see anyone on this street except for Kakashi and I...well...let's just you don't want to find out." Minato let go of the jonin's wrist and started counting.

"10...9...8…" People started running away, and soon the street was empty except for Minato, Kakashi, and the jonin who had tried to kill Kakashi.

"You are helping a traitor! That scum is not your student, you should renounce him and find another student." The jonin said, but Minato ignored him and kept counting.

"5...4...3…" The jonin gave them one last disgusted look before running away. As tempted as it was, Minato didn't chase after him to teach him a lesson. He had more important things to worry about.

"Kakashi, you alright?" Kakashi didn't answer, and Minato saw that a kunai was stuck in Kakashi's side. He gently grasped the kunai handle, and said "this is going to hurt, Kakashi" before pulling it out. Kakashi gasped in pain, and Minato saw that the wound looked deep. Minato lifted Kakashi up as quick as he could without causing Kakashi more pain and teleported to the hospital.

He appeared in the lobby, startling a nearby nurse. "He needs medical attention immediately." Minato said to her. The nurse glanced at Kakashi, then looked away quickly.

"I do not treat a traitor." She said without pity. The nurse turned and was about to walk away when Minato grabbed her shoulder to stop her. She turned around and opened her mouth to protest, but Minato cut her off.

"Being a medic in the leaf village means to treat all patients the same, regardless of their age, rank, gender, or parentage. You are violating the vow that you took when you became a medic."

The nurse flushed angrily. "I don't care, I can treat whoever I want to." Minato turned to another nurse, but got refused as well. He asked a couple more, but they all refused. Minato was seriously thinking about threatening a nurse when a voice spoke behind him.

"I will heal him. Take him into this operation room." Minato turned his head to see a young brown haired medic speaking to him. She quickly lead him into a room and laid Kakashi on the table.

"Thank you…"

"Mikiko, my name is Mikiko Adachi."

"Thank you Mikiko-san."

Mikiko nodded and bent over Kakashi. She held her hand over Kakashi's wound and started healing him. Minato watched as Kakashi's wound started to heal slowly. After a few moments, Mikiko straightened and turned to Minato.

"Kakashi will be fine, just make sure he doesn't move around a lot for the next week."

Minato nodded from his place beside Kakashi. He hesitated for a moment, then said seriously, "I know I've said this before, but thank you, Mikiko-san, for agreeing to treat Kakashi."

Mikiko smiled. "I don't believe it is Kakashi's fault for what his father did. Also, I am very grateful to Sakumo-san. He saved my brother, Norio, and I am forever indebted to him. If Kakashi or Sakumo-san ever get hurt, just find me." Mikiko lifted Kakashi carefully and placed him in the hospital bed next door. She bowed, then left for another patient. Lots of injured people were coming to the hospital because of the war, and every medic was needed.

Minato sat in the chair next to Kakashi. He looked so young in the hospital bed, and Minato couldn't help but think if he should have refused to let Kakashi attend the chunin exams.

 _Minato stood in the room with all the other jonin senseis. The chunin exams were happening again, though because of the war, each village held their own chunin exams twice every year._

 _Minato listened as almost all of the jonin senseis nominated their teams. Soon, only Minato was left. He stepped forward._

" _I, Minato Namikaze,_ _do not_ _nominate Kakashi Hatake for the chunin exams."_

 _Everyone nodded, some relieved that a 6-year old kid would not attend the exams, others relieved that a traitor's son would not be promoted to chunin, not that anyone expected Kakashi to pass._

 _The Hokage nodded. "For everyone who nominated their team for the chunin exams, here are the forms-"_

" _If you would excuse my interruption, Hiruzen, I have a question for Minato." Minato tensed at the familiar manipulative voice._

" _Danzo, what do you want?"_

" _Why are you not nominating Kakashi?" Minato forced himself to relax before responding to Danzo's question._

" _I believe Kakashi is too young to attend the chunin exams." Minato said, hoping that Danzo would just accept the answer and drop the case. Root has been disbanded, so there was no reason for him to take an interest in Kakashi._

" _This is war, age does not matter here, only skill. We need every soldier we can on the battlefield. Is Kakashi skilled enough to become a chunin?" As tempted as Minato was to lie to Danzo and say Kakashi wasn't skilled enough, Danzo would probably find out eventually, and then he would get executed for lying to an elder._

 _Minato gritted his teeth as he said, "He is."_

" _Then it is settled, Kakashi Hatake will attend the chunin exams. Coincidentally, Itsumi's genin team only has two genins, since one of them graduated last year. Kakashi will fill in as the third member. And don't look at me like that, Hiruzen, it's for the good of Konoha," Danzo said. The Hokage glared at Danzo, but nodded his approval for Danzo's statement. 'Danzo, do you even have a shred of empathy in you?' Minato thought to himself as the meeting was adjourned._

The door suddenly burst open, startling Minato. Kushina stomped inside, eyes furious. Minato felt a chill go down his spine when Kushina zeroed in onto him.

"Minato! Who dared to attack Kakashi?! Tell me, I'm so going to go kill him!" Kushina shouted. Minato gulped but didn't answer. "Minato…" Kushina warned, but Kakashi, apparently woken up by Kushina's shouting, was coughing. Kushina instantly appeared beside Kakashi and held a glass of water that was sitting on the bedside table to Kakashi's mouth.

"Kakashi, you alright?" Jiraiya walked in after Kushina. He stood beside Kakashi's hospital bed and watched as Kakashi drank.

"Jiraiya-sama, Kushina-san? When did you get here?" Kakashi said after he finished drinking.

"When we heard some people talking about how you "provoked" a jonin and ended up in the hospital. What really happened?"

Kakashi's expression soured as he recalled the memory. "That jonin insulted father, and he called him a traitor. I said he wasn't a traitor and the jonin got mad." That was what Minato had been expecting, though it didn't make what happened any less easier to bear. Kushina started berating Kakashi about being reckless and how it was all well and good to stand up for what you believe in but sometimes it was better to keep your mouth shut, like Kushina was one to talk.

"Jiraiya-sensei, can I talk to you for a moment?" Minato said quietly so Kushina and Kakashi would not hear. Jiraiya raised an eyebrow curiously, but walked over with him to a corner.

"Minato?"

"This is really becoming a problem. Sakumo-san can stay in his home all day, but Kakashi needs to train and complete missions. This could happen again, and next time Kakashi might not be so lucky."

"Come on, I know they hate Sakumo and Kakashi, but they wouldn't try to _kill_ them. They are still Konoha shinobi." Jiraiya said.

"When I arrived, the jonin had a kunai pointed at Kakashi's heart. Sensei, he meant to kill Kakashi." Minato said seriously. Jiraiya was staring at him in shock, clearly he hadn't expected that. Minato had also not expected that a leaf shinobi would attempt to kill another based on something that wasn't even his fault either, nobody did.

"This is worse than I thought," Jiraiya muttered, expression grim. "Sakumo has to know about this. I know he can't be with Kakashi all the time, but he could summon his ninken to guard him. Of course the hospital didn't even bother to notify him."

Jiraiya wished Kakashi a speedy recovery and left. Minato didn't tell Kushina that the jonin tried to kill Kakashi because he knew that Kushina would murder the jonin. And though the jonin deserved it, Kushina would get arrested for murder, which Minato didn't want. He also hadn't told Kushina about the chunin exams either, which would lead to killing him _and_ Danzo. Currently, Kushina was showing Kakashi how to "properly" defend himself.

"Remember, a ninja does not fight fair. Ninjas must fight dirty when they have to. Now, if your opponent is a man, aim for the-"

"Aaaaand we'll stop right there. Kakashi, you hungry?" Minato felt like he needed to stop Kushina before she influenced Kakashi in a bad way. He had sparred with Kushina before, and he did _not_ want his student to fight like that.

* * *

Sakumo flipped the page gently, not wanting to accidentally rip the fragile paper. The photo album was really old, probably a few decades. The page he currently on showed his genin team picture. He smiled sadly as the old memories came back. Norio and him would always prank their girl teammate, Kanae, who would get mad and start chasing them around with a kunai. Their sensei, Takeshi, would then always separate them and tell Norio and him to be nice to their teammate and tell Kanae to not attempt to kill them.

Even though they quarreled often, Sakumo couldn't count the number of times Takeshi had saved his life, the number of times Kanae had taken care of him, and the number of times Norio had cheered him up. Sakumo smiled softly as he flipped the pages, seeing all the happy memories of him, Norio, Kanae, and Takeshi.

One of them showed him, Norio, and Kanae pranking their sensei by dumping a bowl of ramen on his head. Another showed Takeshi attempting to stop Kanae from taking revenge on Norio because he accidentally pushed her into a mud puddle. Sakumo's eyes softened as he flipped to what was his favorite picture. Norio, Kanae, and him were standing side by side, arms around each other's shoulder, while their sensei was standing behind them, grinning childishly. They were all smiling proudly because they had just been promoted to chunin. It was one of the last few happy moments their team had together.

A couple of months after they had been made chunin, Takeshi had been killed protecting them on a mission. When they all became 18, Kanae had sacrificed her life so a warning for an attack on Konoha could be sent, the warning saved lots of lives, but Kanae's death had devastated Norio and him. Sakumo had sworn on Kanae's grave that he would not let Norio die, and so far, he had succeeded, but at what price?

Earlier, Jiraiya had told him about what had happened to Kakashi. And while Sakumo didn't regret saving Norio, he regretted the mistreatment that Kakashi had to endure. He had to do _something_ , but what could he do? If he tried to convince people to stop mistreating Kakashi, it would likely have the opposite effect.

Sakumo sighed and flipped the page again. He looked sadly at his wedding picture, it was one of the happiest moments in his life. The next following pictures mainly showed Sakumo and his wife, Sanika, and occasionally Norio and his wife. Then...a picture of him holding Kakashi. It had been the happiest moment of his life, and the saddest, because Sanika had died soon after giving birth to Kakashi.

Sakumo browsed through the next couple of pages, which were all about Kakashi. Kakashi taking his first step, Kakashi playing with Sakumo's ninken, Kakashi doodling on the wall, Kakashi joining the Academy, Kakashi throwing his first kunai, Kakashi doing his first jutsu, Kakashi with Obito and Rin, and Kakashi playing with Ai. Sakumo sighed sadly, thanks to him, Kakashi would probably never be able to play with Ai ever again. In fact, he probably won't be happy ever again.

No, he would not let that happen. He would _not_ let Kakashi's future be tainted with unhappiness because of something he did. What could he do though, that would stop people from hating Kakashi? He knew that most of village wanted him to pay for "betraying" Konoha, but what payment could he give them?

A dark thought came to his mind, but he pushed it away. If he did that, there was no guarantee that they would leave Kakashi alone. Besides, Kakashi would never forgive him.

However, the thought came back, and it haunted him throughout the week.

' _I could pay with...my life.'_

* * *

Kakashi lied on the hospital bed, reading through a scroll that showed you how to do a C-Rank lightning technique. Minato and Kushina had reluctantly gone to eat dinner after Kakashi had reassured them that he would be fine.

He looked up startled when the door handle started to turn, but it stopped abruptly when a voice coming from behind the door said, " _Obito_ , it's polite to knock first." Kakashi grinned, delighted. He had wondered when they were going to visit.

"But Rin, he must have already heard us anyway." Obito said.

"That's why you should have knocked first."

Obito sighed. "Fine." He knocked two times, and Kakashi, who was suppressing a smile, said, "come in."

The door opened, and Kakashi's two best friends came in. Obito was carrying a basket while Rin was holding a card.

"Hey, Kakashi!" Obito said, cheerful as always. He set the basket down on Kakashi's bed. "My grandmother wanted me to give this to you."

"You didn't have to, but thanks."

"Hi Kakashi. Sorry, but I didn't bring you any food or anything like that, but I brought you this." Rin said as she handed Kakashi the card.

"No Rin, you didn't have to. I wasn't expecting anything, don't worry about it. Thanks for the card though." Kakashi said.

"It's just...my mother didn't want me to come visit you and told me to stay away from you and your father." Rin's voice held a tinge of anger as she spoke her next statement. "As if I would do that! Right now she thinks I'm at Kurenai's house, so as long as she doesn't ask Kurenai's mother how our playdate was, I'll be fine."

"Rin, don't mind your mother, I'm sure she'll get over it...eventually."

Rin nodded, but then hesitantly said, "We heard what happened to your father. And I just wanted to say that I don't blame him for the choice he made."

"I don't either." Obito agreed. "I believe he made the right choice, and my grandmother does too."

Kakashi looked at his friends gratefully. He knew that Obito and Rin were not the kind of people to ostracize someone who didn't deserve it, but it was still good to know that he had been right.

"How do you guys always make me feel better?" Kakashi said, smiling.

Obito punched him lightly on the arm. "That's what friends are for."

The rest of the evening passed with all three of them talking, joking, and laughing together until Obito and Rin had to leave. Kakashi waited until they were gone before rolling onto his back and sighing. He wondered whether or not his father knew about what happened today, and if he did, what he thought about it. Kakashi turned back to the scroll. The Chunin Exams starts in a week, and he needed to prepare for it as much as he could. Even though Minato told him to not expect to pass and to take it easy, Kakashi wanted to pass. _'Maybe if I pass, father will be proud of me and finally be happy again.'_


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

 **Sorry for the long wait, I had a competition and had to practice for it. Hope you enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

Kakashi sat at a desk in the classroom where Stage 1 of the chunin exams would take place. His two teammates, Mai Yamanaka and Tatsuo Inuzuka, with his ninken Haruki, were sitting three rows in front of him. Their third teammate had been promoted to chunin a year ago. (They had not attended the chunin exams half a year ago because of the war) Mai was smart and mischievous. She had short light blond hair and sharp green eyes. Mai was adept with her clan's Mind Transfer Jutsu and specialized in genjutsu. Tatsuo was more reckless and brash, and Haruki could use their clan's signature jutsu Fang Over Fang and excelled in Taijutsu. Tatsuo had messy black hair and slitted black pupils while Haruki was all black except for a white spot on her chest. Kakashi knew he had gotten lucky, or maybe Minato and the Sandaime had assigned him to the team on purpose. Mai didn't look down on him for being young, and while Tatsuo and Haruki sometimes teased him because of his age, he knew they never meant it. Even though some of their clan members had died during the war, none of them blamed him and was able to look past Sakumo's mistake, unlike most adults.

The door suddenly slammed open, startling everyone. A dark haired women marched in, cloak billowing around her. She looked to be about 30 years old, and had an imposing air around her that warned Kakashi not to mess with her. She glared at all of them with her striking violet eyes. A bunch of chunins came after her and sat in the chairs around the room.

"Listen up you brats, cause I'm only going to say this once! My name is Aina Heishi, and you will address me as Heishi-san, or else you fail! In order to pass Stage 1, you have get at least 1 question right on the test in front of you. The 10th question will be given to you separately. The more questions you get right, the higher your score. If you turn the test over before I allow you to, you fail. If you get caught cheating, you get one warning. If you get three warnings, you fail! Oh, and if one member of your team fails, you do too. No talking unless I ask you to, or else you fail. You have until noon. You may start...now."

The sound of rustling paper filled the room as everyone hurriedly turned their test paper over. Kakashi looked at the first question.

 _1\. Name 10 B-Rank jutsus of each element._

Kakashi frowned. How was he supposed to know that many? _'This is way too hard for a chunin exam, I don't even think some jonins know.'_ He looked around and saw other people writing answers down frantically. _'How do they know the answers?'_

"Mai Yamanaka, this is your first warning!" A chunin called out. Mai cursed softly and returned to studying her test. Kakashi tapped his pencil to his masked chin thoughtfully. Why would the exam proctors give them three warnings for cheating? It was like they were encouraging them to cheat. Unless...they really did want them to cheat. They must have planted some chunins who had the answers in the midst of the genins.

Mai could use her clan's Mind Transfer Jutsu to cheat, and Tatsuo could use his ninken to help him. Kakashi didn't have any special clan jutsus/animal partners that could help him cheat, so he'd just have to find a way to let Mai use her Mind Transfer Jutsu on him. However, Mai would have to turn around to use her Mind Transfer Jutsu on him, which would look super suspicious. Kakashi glanced at the clock, ten minutes left, he'd have to hurry. Slowly, he formed a plan.

Kakashi started fidgeting a little and acting uncomfortable. Many of the chunins looked at him suspiciously, but turned away when they didn't see him cheating. Kakashi started fidgeting more and kicking the desk. All the other genins were looking at him weirdly, especially Tatsuo, who was shaking his head frantically. But Mai peered over her shoulder and winked at him, hopefully she knew what he was planning to do.

Finally Aina couldn't take it anymore. She marched towards Kakashi and slammed her hand on his desk.

"What's your name, brat?" Aina snarled irritably. Kakashi hesitated, worried that she would hate him too once she knew who he was. He thought back to what Minato had said before the exam.

 _There's not much time, so listen closely Kakashi. Stage 1 should be easy for you. The procter, Aina Heishi, might seem harsh and uncaring, but she's fair, and she won't treat you differently just because of your father._

"Well?"

' _Minato-sensei's usually right, and she doesn't seem like the type to jump to conclusions.'_ Kakashi thought to himself.

"Kakashi Hatake."

"And explain to me, _Hatake_ , why are you disturbing the test?"

Kakashi squirmed in his seat and tried to seem as young and innocent as possible. "Heishi-san, I...I really need to go."

"Go where?" Aina said suspiciously.

"I need to go to the bathroom, _really_ badly." Kakashi didn't need to fake the blush that was growing on his face, though the mask covered most of it. It was embarrassing and humiliating, but Kakashi knew it would make most of the genins underestimate him, which would give him an edge in the later stages.

"Hmph, nice try kid, but no one is allowed to go to the bathroom during the exam." Aina was about to turn away, but Kakashi put on his best "I really need to go to the bathroom" face.

"I seriously need to go."

"No."

"I can't hold it anymore!" Kakashi started squirming and put a panicked expression on his face.

Aina grimaced as she imagined what would happen if she refused to let Kakashi go to the bathroom.

"There's only 7 minutes left."

"But I need to go _now_."

Aina gritted her teeth and pointed to a nearby chunin. "You! Take him to the bathroom! Make sure he doesn't cheat."

The chunin didn't look that happy with being chosen, but one glare from Aina made him stand up without complaint. Kakashi stood up and walked towards the door. He altered his path so that he passed in front of Mai.

Kakashi managed not to stumble when he felt Mai's jutsu take hold of him.

' **Kakashi?'** Mai's voice said in his mind.

' _Hi Mai.'_ Kakashi replied as he walked to the bathroom with the chunin following close behind him.

' **Good, it worked. I got all of the answers, turns out the person sitting to the left of me was a chunin in disguise. I'll show you an image of my test. Better hurry up, only 5 minutes left.'** Mai said.

Kakashi nodded mentally and felt her retreat from his mind immediately. After he finished using the bathroom, he went back to the classroom and quickly copied down Mai's answer.

"Alright, time's up everyone! Turn over your tests this instance, or else you fail!" Kakashi had lost count of how many times Aina had said the word "fail." Everyone quickly turned their test over, and looked at Aina nervously.

"Before I announce the 10th question, I'm required to warn you about it. The 10th question will make you face intense pain, make you face your worst fears, and make your worst nightmares come to life. Also, if you fail the 10th question, you lose your chance to become a chunin forever. However, you have the option to quit right now and try the chunin exams next year. So, if you want to quit right now, raise your hand." The genin candidates look at their teammates nervously, but Kakashi wasn't worried. Mai and Tatsuo had passed Stage 1 of the exams a year ago, they had told him the 10th question was a bluff, and to not quit.

Finally, a genin raised his hand. "I quit." His teammates shot him angry glares, but could do nothing but follow their teammate out the classroom. Two more teams quit, but that seemed to be it.

Aina looked around. "That's it? This is your last chance to quit." No one said anything. Aina nodded at a chunin, who left the room. Aina turned back to them and looked at each one of them seriously.

"In order to become a chunin, you not only have to have skill, but the guts to do whatever is necessary for the village." Kakashi frowned. Mai and Tatsuo had not mentioned this part.

Aina continued. "Now's the time to prove that you're not weak-willed. Are all of you ready?" They all nodded. Aina clapped her hands, and the chunin who had left the room came back, but this time he was not alone. A group of miserable looking people followed him. They were in chains and they all had the Rock village headband on. _'Iwa prisoners? What are they doing here?'_

"These are prisoners that were captured recently. We have already interrogated them, and usually they would have been executed by T&I, but there's another use for them. Chunins are sent onto the front lines of the war. In war, it's kill or be killed, there's not another option. If you leave an enemy ninja alive because you can't bear to kill someone, they'll stand back up and attack you and your comrades. Ninjas who can't kill are a danger to their comrades, that's why all of you here need to prove that you can _kill_. Everyone stand up and activate the seal on the top right corner of your desk.

Kakashi send a little chakra into the seal and the desk, chair, and test disappeared with a poof of smoke. The chunin examiners all stood up and escorted the prisoners to stand in front of each of the genin participants. The prisoner standing in front of Kakashi was a young man that looked to be about 20 years old. Kakashi felt a pang of sympathy for him, he was at the prime of his life, and now his life was going to be spent in the dungeons of the leaf village.

"Now, you might be wondering why we've brought these prisoners here. It's quite simple, actually. All you have to do to pass Stage 1 of the chunin exams...is to kill the person in front of you."

Kakashi's eyes widened with shock. Kill them? Some of the prisoners started crying, including the prisoner in front of him.

"Some of you might be wondering why you haven't seen this test before. During war, an extra part is added to Stage 1 of the chunin exams. We have to know that you'll be able to _kill_ out there on the battlefield." Aina beckoned to the chunins, and they all took out a kunai and threw it at the feet of each genin candidate. "When I say go, I want all of you to slit the throat of the prisoner in front of you. If you're too weak-willed to do it, then you fail."

Kakashi looked around the room. Most of the genins were pale and shaky, which was probably how he was right now, but some of the genins looked... _excited_. Kakashi braced himself. If that was what he had to do to serve the village, then he would do it. But could he really take a person's life? The young man, no, the enemy in front of him was trembling in fear. Did he have a family in the Rock village, or a lover? _'No, don't think about that Kakashi.'_ Kakashi thought to himself. _'They're enemies of Konoha, they deserve to die.'_

"3!"

' _He deserves it, he tried to harm Konoha.'_

"2!"

' _But he's just another person defending his home.'_

"1!"

' _But my home matters more. I'm sorry.'_ Kakashi said silently to the prisoner in front of him.

"Go!"

Kakashi lunged forward and swung the kunai in an arc towards the prisoner's throat. The prisoner fell backwards with his eyes wide with shock. Kakashi was breathing hard, not believing that he had just killed another human being, when he heard Aina say "Kai!"

The prisoner in front of him wavered and turned into a log. Cries of surprise rang throughout the room as every prisoner turned into a log too. _'A genjutsu?'_ Kakashi thought sluggishly.

"All of you who didn't try to kill the prisoner in front of you are disqualified." Aina paused to wait for almost half of the genin participants to leave. Kakashi searched for Mai and Tatsuo and found that they had also passed the test.

"Those who did, good job. For those who don't know, it was a genjutsu. You may leave now, a pass will be given to you at the door. Stage 2 takes place tomorrow at the gates of the Forest of Death." Aina said before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Kakashi walked out the door with all the other genin candidates and picked up a pass. He found Mai and Tatsuo and walked over to them.

"That was a sick test." Tatsuo said. Haruki barked in agreement.

"It was necessary though." Kakashi responded. Tatsuo glared at him.

"I don't care if it was necessary or not. I'll do it if I have to, just don't expect me to enjoy it."

"No one expects you to. In fact, if you did, I would be disgusted by you." Mai answered while holding her stomach. She looked as if she was going to be sick.

"Are you okay, Mai?" Tatsuo said, concerned. Kakashi didn't think any of them were okay, but Mai looked the worst of the three of them.

"Yeah, I'm fine. See you guys tomorrow, don't forget to bring enough equipment and food." Mai smiled unconvincingly and left in the direction of the Yamanaka compound. Tatsuo frowned, but said goodbye to Kakashi and departed too. Kakashi stared after his temporary teammates, wondering if they were going to be okay. He certainly wasn't going to be.

"Kakashi?" Kakashi turned to see Minato suddenly standing beside him. "You alright?"

"I passed."

"That's not what I asked. I know about the extra part they add during war times. I want to know whether or not you're okay, Kakashi." Minato said seriously.

Kakashi clenched his fists. "I...I knew that killing the Rock ninja would protect Konoha, so why am I feeling so disgusted at myself? Shouldn't I be happy that I'm protecting my village?"

Minato laid a hand on Kakashi's shoulder and teleported them both onto the First Hokage's head. He crouched down in front of Kakashi so that their eyes were level with each other's.

"No, you shouldn't be happy. Sometimes killing is necessary and we can't avoid it, but you should never, ever, feel happy about killing another person. Feeling disgusted by killing is what keeps you human, what preserves your humanity, what keeps you from losing yourself. When you start feeling happy about killing, when you start enjoying it, that's when you stop being human. And if you ever feel that way, I want you to tell me immediately. Ok?"

"Yes, sensei."

Minato sighed and stood, looking at the village down below.

"This is my favorite place in Konoha. Whenever I question my reason for killing, I come up here and remind myself what I'm fighting for. I also find it helpful to talk to someone. Don't try to deal with this all by yourself, Kakashi. Talking with someone helps a lot, you know."

"I understand." A moment of silence passed between them before Kakashi spoke again.

"Sensei?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm glad that I didn't have to kill someone, but why did they put us all under a genjutsu rather than make us kill real people? Wouldn't it have been more effective to let us make our first kill in the classroom so we would get used to it?" Kakashi asked.

"Danzo, one of the council members, wanted for all the genin candidates to actually kill a person and not break down after to pass. But Sandaime-sama never wanted this part of Stage 1. In the end a compromise was made. The genin candidates would only have to kill a person in a genjutsu to pass, and this part of the test was only active during war times. All of the parents and senseis of the genin candidates are notified so they can help them get over it."

"Oh." The image of the Rock prisoner lying dead came up in Kakashi's mind again, but he quickly pushed it away. _'Don't think about it, think about something else.'_ Kakashi thought to himself. He glanced at Minato to see if he had noticed his brief panic, but Minato was squinting at the sun, trying to see the sun's position.

"It's still early, want to train while I tell you about the Forest of Death?" Minato said, smiling brightly, as if their previous conversation hadn't happened at all.

"Is the Forest of Death dangerous? I heard it was filled with monsters?" Kakashi said, temporarily forgetting about that specific part of Stage 1 of the chunin exams.

* * *

Sakumo was polishing his tanto when a knock came from the door. He sensed that it was a ninja outside, most likely one of the many that were angry at him for continuing the war, though few people were brave enough to shout at Konoha's White Fang alone. Sakumo got up and walked to the door, he might as well see what the ninja wanted, though he doubted it was anything good. He had given up on that already.

Sakumo opened the door and nearly stumbled in surprise. It was Norio, and he looked terrible. His eyes were red and swollen and he was leaning against the wall, as if he couldn't stand on his own. Norio's chakra level were low, so low that Sakumo was barely able to recognize his friend's chakra, which was most likely why he hadn't known it was Norio before he opened the door.

"Norio?" Sakumo asked, concerned for his friend. It didn't matter that Norio no longer considered Sakumo his friend anymore. In his heart, Norio would always remain his best friend.

Norio looked up in surprise at his voice, as if he had been spacing out earlier.

"Norio? Are you alright? Is your wife and Ai okay?" Sakumo persisted.

That, apparently, had been the wrong thing to say. Norio's surprise changed to anger as he looked at Sakumo with such hatred and loathing that Sakumo lost any hope that Norio would ever forgive him.

"You dare speak about my wife?! After your actions killed her?!" Norio shouted at him. Sakumo's heart sank, another person dead because of the war, because of him.

"What happened?"

"She was sent on a mission, a mission to retrieve a scroll. The very same scroll that we failed to retrieve. And guess what? They learned from last time, and the scroll was actually a bomb. No one survived. I got the letter this morning, and they told me that they couldn't find her body. It was all vaporized by the bomb, and my daughter still doesn't know about this. How will I tell her? If you had just grabbed the scroll back then, none of this would have happened. But now, my daughter just lost her mother. She's going to have to grow up without a mother, because of your mistake. I would have died a thousand times over just so my wife could live, just so she and Ai could be happy together. I hate you! I hate you so much right now that I'm barely able to hold myself back from trying to kill you!"

As Sakumo listened to Norio, his heart grew heavier and heavier. He remembered Norio's wife. She was so sweet and caring, and treated Kakashi as if he was her own son. Without her, Kakashi would have never known the love of a mother. And how did he repay her? Sure, he did save Norio's life, but he also made her daughter lose a mother. Sakumo had never felt as horrible as he did right now.

"If you ever come within my sight, I'll kill you!" Norio snarled. "And tell Kakashi to stay away from Ai, I don't want to see him ever again. The only thing that would ease my heart a little would be seeing your dead body on the ground! You don't deserve to live after causing so much death and pain to everyone else! You're such a piece of scum!" After saying that one last insult, Norio turned and left. Sakumo watched him go until he turned a corner and disappeared. Then he closed the door and went back to his study.

' _Why? Why does it seem like the whole world's against me sometimes?'_ Sakumo dropped to his knees in despair. _'I'm so sorry, Norio, Ai. I never meant for my decision to cause such huge consequences. I really deserve to die.'_ He thought back to Norio's words.

 _The only thing that would ease my heart a little would be seeing your dead body on the ground!_

 _You don't deserve to live after causing so much death and pain to everyone else!_

' _You're right, I don't.'_ Sakumo punched a cabinet in anger, causing everything on top to fall down. A photograph landed in front of him. Sakumo picked it up and stared at it.

It was a photo of him holding Kakashi. Kakashi looked to be about two years old, and he was staring up at Sakumo with so much trust and adoration in his eyes. No, he couldn't think about killing himself, Kakashi would be horrified if he knew. He should live for Kakashi. Kakashi deserved it.

But Kakashi also deserved spending his childhood without the mistake of his father hanging over him. He didn't deserve being the subject of hatred and ridicule of the villagers, and he didn't deserve having a father who refused to leave his house.

' _What should I do?'_


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

* * *

 **I meant for Ai's mother's funeral to be brief and write part of Stage 2 of the chunin exams, but I kind of got carried away and before I knew it the flashback was two pages long. I didn't feel like glossing over the funeral though, so I decided not to rewrite the whole thing.**

* * *

Kakashi knocked on his father's door, hoping that he would open it. Kakashi hadn't seen his father much in the past few months. And though Kakashi would never admit it, he missed his father terribly. He waited for a few moments before knocking again.

"Father?"

No one answered, though Kakashi knew that Sakumo was in there, maybe he was asleep. Kakashi set down the plate of food he had made for his father and was just about to leave when the door opened. Kakashi spun around, smiling happily, but his smile faded once he saw Sakumo's expression.

"Father? Is something wrong?" Sakumo looked as if he had seen a ghost. His face looked pale and strained.

"Norio...came over today." Sakumo said hesitantly.

"Really? What did he say?" Kakashi asked. Maybe Norio finally came to his senses and realized that Sakumo was not to blame for his actions. However, Kakashi soon realized that it couldn't be good news, or else Sakumo would not have looked so regretful and mournful.

"What happened?" Kakashi said anxiously. "Is Ai alright?"

"Ai is alright, but…" Sakumo started, but stopped and suddenly crouched down and hugged Kakashi fiercely.

"Father, what happened?" Kakashi said, really afraid now. Sakumo rarely hugged him, even less now because of the failed mission.

"Ai's mother died." Sakumo finished. Kakashi eyes widened. Those three simple words hit him like a hammer blow.

"It can't be…" Tears formed in Kakashi's eyes and he buried his face in Sakumo's shoulder. Sakumo gently patted Kakashi on the back, muttering comforting words. Kakashi hugged his father tightly. Ai's mother had been one of the kindest people he had ever met, and Kakashi considered her as his own mother.

After a while, Kakashi's sobs slowly stopped. "How did she die?"

"She died a shinobi's death. She was on a mission yesterday, and got blew up by a bomb." Sakumo said. Kakashi flinched inwardly, that was a painful way to die, but at least it was fast.

"When is the funeral?" Kakashi felt Sakumo tense.

"Norio...said for us to not show up during the funeral...and for you to not go near him and Ai...or else he'll...he'll hurt you."

Kakashi bit his lip as he felt hurt spike in his heart. Not only could he not pay respect to Ai's mother, he could not even comfort Ai or talk to her. Something inside Kakashi snapped. Norio was being a jerk, and whether he liked it or not, Kakashi was going to the funeral. Though he wasn't going to tell his father. Norio had always been nice to him, he would never hurt him.

"Please, Kakashi, don't go to the funeral. I don't want Norio to hurt you." Sakumo looked worried, as if he knew what Kakashi was thinking. Kakashi hated lying to his father, but he had to in order to go.

"Yes father. I promise."

* * *

Kakashi sneaked towards where the funeral was being held. He had found out when the funeral was taking place by eavesdropping on a couple of Norio's friends. Coincidentally, it was placed about an hour before when Stage 2 would be starting, which would give him more than enough time to pay his respects to Ai's mother.

Kakashi finally reached the Training Ground that had the memorial stone in it. He crouched behind a tree in the Training Ground. A bunch of people were already there, all wearing black. Ai's mother was well-liked by everyone, and never treated someone unfairly. Kakashi wasn't wearing black so Sakumo wouldn't get suspicious, but he knew that Ai's mother wouldn't mind. She never cared about formality.

A bell rang mournfully, getting everyone's attention. Kakashi turned towards the direction where the sound had came from, and saw a line of people walking slowly towards the memorial stone. A long black box was being carried by four people. Kakashi's heart contracted painfully. Ai's mother was one of those people that didn't deserve to die, not that there was many.

The line finally reached the memorial stone and the coffin was carefully set down in front of it. Norio stood in front of the coffin, and in his arms... was Ai. Ai's small face was streaked with tears, and she was hugging her father tightly.

"I want to thank everyone that has come here today to honor my wife, Hanami Adachi. She was a capable shinobi, and more importantly, a kind person. She died trying to protect Konoha, our village, and I will forever remember her." Norio bowed his head, tears falling freely from his face. He gently set Ai down and took out a portrait from his pocket. The portrait showed Ai's mother smiling, her dark purple hair framing her face and black eyes shining as usual. Norio nodded at the civilian responsible for carving names onto the memorial stone, and they all stood in respectful silence as Hanami's name was carved into the memorial stone.

"May you rest in peace, Hanami." Norio choked out. He then picked Ai back up and stood to the side, letting other people come out to say farewell. In the forest, Kakashi's eyes stung with tears. While Sakumo had taught him how to be a good shinobi and how to be respected, Hanami had taught him how to be kind, gentle, and overall, how to be a good _person_. He thought back to when he had just turned four and had gotten into a fight with another kid.

" _Kakashi, stop it! What are you doing?!" Hanami yelled as she pulled Kakashi off the other boy. Kakashi had a split lip, but the other boy was nursing a black eye and a nasty looking bruise on his arm._

" _He laughed at me and called me a weakling! Ha! Who's weak now?!" Kakashi glared down at the beaten boy. He was seven years old, almost twice Kakashi's age, but he was civilian-born and Kakashi was not. He expected Hanami to agree with him and admonish the other boy for being mean. However, she did neither and instead did something that Kakashi was not expecting._

" _Kakashi, apologize right now." Hanami said sternly. Kakashi looked at her incredulously. Why should he apologize when he did nothing wrong?_

" _Kakashi." Hanami glared at him, and Kakashi glared right back._

" _Why should I apologize? He was the one being mean."_

" _Yes, but he didn't hurt you physically, so apologize."_

" _No!" Kakashi said stubbornly. Hanami sighed and apologized to the other boy's mother. She then beckoned Kakashi to follow her and walked home. Kakashi stuck his tongue out at the other boy and followed Hanami home._

 _When they got home Hanami picked Kakashi up and jumped onto the roof. She sat Kakashi down in the center then sat facing him._

" _Kakashi, what you did today was wrong."_

" _I don't understand what's so wrong about it. He started it."_

" _By saying a few words. Sure, they were insulting, but instead of fighting back with words, you used your fists."_

" _I needed to prove that I wasn't weak."_

" _Why do you need to prove that?"_

" _So people can respect me." Kakashi said._

" _Will people respect someone who beats someone up just because of a few words?" Hanami said while taking out a clean cloth and wiping Kakashi's lip gently. Kakashi thought about what she had said._

" _But people don't respect someone who is weak." Kakashi said scowling._

 _Hanami shook her head. "No, you're wrong Kakashi. There are things more important than being strong. Tell me, do you like making people feel hurt? Making people feel that they're beneath you? Making people feel sad? Making people feel embarrassed and humiliated? Because that's what you did just now."_

 _Kakashi opened his mouth to argue, but nothing came out. He hadn't thought about it that way, but all that mattered at that time was making him know who was stronger between the two of them. It was nothing but pure arrogance on his part. Kakashi never liked making people feel sad, but that was exactly what he did._

" _No, I don't." Kakashi muttered._

 _Hanami smiled. "Exactly. No one does, except for those sick people who for some reason like making people suffer. I know the other boy was being mean, and that was wrong of him to do so. However, not everyone really thinks of what consequences their actions have on other people. That's why some people can be some mean sometimes." Hanami paused, then continued._

" _But, instead of returning unpleasantness with unpleasantness, we could return it with kindness. Most people will feel ashamed if they realize that they're repaying your kindness with unkindness. And if they don't...then they're horrible people and you have my permission to teach them a lesson. However, beating them up won't teach them anything." Kakashi nodded, ashamed at what he had done._

" _Why are you so kind, Adachi-san?" Kakashi asked curiously. Hanami frowned a little as she thought. After several moments she shrugged._

" _I'm not that kind. I just treat people how they deserve to be treated. Though, why shouldn't you be kind? Doesn't it make you glad to see other people happy? Like when you gave Obito and Rin surprise birthday presents." At Kakashi's nod, she beamed at him and stood up._

" _Let's go down, Kakashi, it's getting cold up here. And you still need to apologize to that boy."_

From that point on, Kakashi tried to do as Hanami had said, though it was hard. Sometimes you didn't even realize that you were being mean and petty until someone told you. Maybe that was what the village was doing right now, thinking they were doing justice when they were not. However, the cries of a few can't be heard over the shouts of a crowd.

Most of the people were done saying their goodbyes, and Kakashi should probably be leaving soon, but he stayed where he was. He knew the greatest regret Hanami would have dying would be leaving her daughter without a mother. Kakashi looked at the small figure standing next to the coffin. Ai was crying again, staring at the grave of her mother. She probably didn't really understand what was happening, only that she was never going to see her mother again.

Kakashi wiped away his tears. "May you rest in peace, Adachi-san." He whispered. Kakashi stood up and looked back at Ai. He knew he probably shouldn't do what he was thinking right now, but he couldn't resist. Besides, Hanami would have wanted it. Kakashi waited until Ai was looking right at him before stepping out of the shadow of the tree. He saw Ai's eyes widen with surprise. Kakashi quickly raised his hands and made the hand sign for dog.

 _Several months ago, when Kakashi and Ai were a little younger, Kakashi came over to Norio's house to play with Ai. After several hours, Kakashi needed to leave._

" _Sorry Ai, but I have to leave now.' Kakashi said, getting up. Ai's face instantly fell and tears started to form in her eyes. 'Uh oh,' Kakashi thought to himself._

" _No leave, stay please?" Ai pleaded._

 _Kakashi shook his head. "Sorry, but I have to go. I have to get back home before 6 to complete my homework."_

 _Ai shook her head and clambered over to hug Kakashi's leg. "No leave."_

" _I have to, but I'll come back tomorrow, okay?"_

" _Come again?" Ai's face lit up. She held up her pinkie. "Pinkie swear?"_

 _Apparently, a pinkie swear is when two people entwine their pinkies and swear over their pinkies. Even though nothing was physically binding the person making the promise to keep their promise, it seemed to make little kids calmer. However, Kakashi didn't think he'd be able to let go of his dignity enough to pinkie swear with Ai, especially with Norio, Hanami, and Sakumo watching. An idea suddenly came to him._

" _Pinkie swears are so unoriginal, everybody uses them. I have an idea though." Kakashi made a fist with one hand and told Ai to put her hand flat on top of his. "Together we're making the hand sign for dog, but it can also be our secret signal for promises. Dogs are one of the most loyal creatures ever, so whenever we make this sign, we're basically swearing that we will never, ever, abandon each other and always keep our promises. Okay?"_

 _Ai nodded, a smile forming on her face. "Ours. Keep promise, no breaking promises."_

" _No breaking promises." Kakashi repeated._

Ai started towards him, but Norio sensed her motion and his gaze wandered to the direction that she was trying to go. His gaze fell on Kakashi. Kakashi thought back to his father's words.

 _Norio...said for us to not show up during the funeral...or else he'll hurt you._

Kakashi wasn't afraid of Norio though, and stared back unflinchingly. He still wasn't sure whether Norio hated him or not. Before Sakumo's mission, Norio was always kind to Kakashi and was almost like an uncle to him. However, after Sakumo's mission, Norio never came over to visit or help Kakashi and Sakumo out, and the one time Kakashi had went over to Norio's house for help, Norio had turned Kakashi away because he refused to renounce his father. If Norio was still the kind uncle that Kakashi remembered, he would beckon Kakashi over and grieve for Hanami together. If he wasn't and he hated them forever, then he would chase Kakashi away.

Several seconds passed, and to Kakashi's surprise, Norio did neither. He simply looked at Kakashi with eyes full of regret and sadness, though whether it was directed towards Hanami or him, Kakashi wasn't sure. Norio then turned away and announced the funeral as over. Before Kakashi could walk over to him and confront him, Norio picked Ai up and used the Shunshin Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique) to teleport away.

Kakashi stared at the spot where Norio had disappeared, unaware of the glares and murmurs he got from the people who attended the funeral. After several minutes, Kakashi turned and walked towards the Forest of Death. Kakashi shook his head, trying to clear his mind. Whether or not Norio liked him doesn't matter right now, he had to focus on one thing at a time. The Forest of Death is dangerous, and some genins have died in there. Kakashi knew that Hanami would have wanted them all to continue living their lives, so first he had to survive the chunin exams first. Kakashi took a deep breath. He _would_ get stronger, he _would_ help Konoha win and stop the war, so no more people would have to get hurt.

* * *

Kakashi arrived at the gates of the Forest of Death a minute before the exam started. He quickly located Mai and Tatsuo and hurried over to them.

"There you are Kakashi! What took you so long? I was afraid you wouldn't show up." Tatsuo exclaimed, Haruki barked in agreement.

"Sorry, I had something to do before this. I wonder what we're going to have to do." Kakashi said, changing the subject before his teammates asked what he had to do.

"Yeah, each year it changes a little bit. Last year it was horrible. We had to search in this _humongous_ swamp for this _tiny_ little scroll and-" Tatsou was interrupted mid sentence when Aina appeared in a puff of smoke, silencing all conversations.

"Welcome to Stage 2 of the chunin exams. Each of you must first sign a form that says Konoha will not be charged with anything that happens to you, whether you lose an arm, a leg, or your life." Forms were passed around, and Kakashi signed his name without any hesitation and gave it to a chunin proctor.

"Your task is simple. Each team will receive a scroll that has a random number. The numbers range from 1-12, there are 24 teams. On the scroll is also a riddle, which is different for each number. The answer to each riddle will lead to a location, where a medal is hidden. Each member will also receive a medal, which must be worn at a visible spot at _all_ times, no genjutsu or fuinjutsu, nothing! If you do not have a medal on you, you are disqualified, so you can't give all of your medals to your strongest teammate. You have three days to gather medals, after three days you have to make your way to the tower in the middle of the Forest of Death by 12:00. The top 8 teams with the most medals will advance to the preliminaries. The rules are simple, no leaving the Forest of Death, no attacking the proctors, and try to avoid killing. Anything else is allowed, including stealing a scroll from another team to find extra medals. Go to the stand in my right to get your scroll and medals."

Mai, Tatsuo, and Kakashi went to the stand and got their medals and scroll. Their number was 7. They all put their medals around their necks, and decided that Mai would be in charge of carrying the scroll. A chunin escorted them to one of the gates and told them they could go in once he allowed them.

After a few minutes, the chunin looked at his watch and nodded to them.

"You may go in."

Mai, Tatsuo, and Kakashi immediately raced inside. Their plan was simple: find shelter, solve the riddle, avoid any fights unless they were sure they could win. However, they had to stay hidden. Lots of the genin participants were a lot older and more experienced than Kakashi's team, and wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone to become chunin, especially the teams that were eager to kill the prisoner in stage 1. Tons of ferocious animals also lurked inside the Forest of Death, ranging from tiny poisonous snakes to 10 feet tall tigers. If they weren't careful, they could easily be killed.


	11. Chapter 11

**Really sorry for the super long wait, I had an essay and then a bunch of things came up and I went on vacation for a few days. There will probably be another long wait somewhere in May.**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

Tatsuo, Mai, and Kakashi raced inside the Forest of Death. Mai glanced at Tatsuo and Haruki.

"We should find a source of water, can you smell any streams or rivers?"

Tatsuo shook his head. "It's too near the gates right now, it's not safe, _dummy_." Kakashi gulped and leaned away from the pair as Mai's temper rose. She cracked her knuckles and walked menacingly towards Tatsuo.

"What...did...you...call...me?" Mai said threatenly. Haruki whined and backed away. Tatsuo was still oblivious of the danger, he stuck his tongue out at Mai.

"I said dummy, _dummy_. Do you have hearing problems too in addition to being dumb?"

A second later Tatsuo was on the ground rolling in pain, with a bump swelling painfully on his head. Mai glared at Tatsuo.

"I didn't mean finding shelter right now. I wanted to find a stream if there was one nearby, then follow it deeper into the Forest of Death, which would save lots of time."

"Oh…" Tatsuo grinned sheepishly and sniffed the air. Soon, with Haruki's help, they located a stream and started going deeper into the Forest of Death. Each step they took, the trees got more huge and twisted, and the sun's rays slowly dimmed until little light shone through the canopy. Growls and rustles sounded from the bushes as they ran past, making the forest ominous and scary. They stopped to rest twice, but other than that, they didn't stop moving. The first day was the most important, you had to find shelter and a water source fast, or else you just had to stay alert all night and bear the thirst. That made you more tired and vulnerable, easy pickings for the other genin teams.

Finally, when it was about 4:00, they found a shallow cave located near the foot of a mountain. Vines covered the entrance of the cave, hiding it from sight. It wasn't perfect, but it would have to do. At least it was near the stream.

"Finally, I'm so tired." Tatsuo said as he flopped down onto the cave floor. Kakashi sat down beside him with a weary sigh. Four hours of running while on high alert was tiring for anyone. Mai set a few genjutsus that would mask any sounds or scents coming from inside the cave and made the cave seem like it wasn't there. After she was done with that Mai walked over and joined them.

"Let's look at the scroll now, we'll want to find it before the other team who has number 7 does." Kakashi said. Tatsuo groaned.

"Why right now? I'm tired."

Mai shot him an angry glare, and he shut up immediately. She took out the scroll and rolled it open.

 _In a place, where it's not cold but no flowers grow,_

 _it's not a lake, sea, stream, pond, ocean, or river, but water is your greatest foe._

 _Beware, things are not as they seem,_

 _one wrong step, and you are forever silenced; no one will hear your screams._

 _In this place, there lives a giant beast,_

 _if it bites you, poison will run through your veins until death is what worries you the least._

 _It has no fur, arms, or legs,_

 _what you seek lies in its eggs._

"What is that supposed to mean?" Mai exclaimed. Kakashi had no clue either. The first four lines seemed to be describing a place while the last four lines described an animal. Apparently the medal is in the animal's eggs, or is there even an animal at all? Maybe it was a metaphor, but then, maybe it was literally meaning an animal. They pondered this for the next hour, but nothing came to mind.

' _Where it's not cold, but no flowers grow...a desert? But there's no water in a desert. And one wrong step and you are forever silenced...maybe if you accidentally step in the water and drown? But what has water that isn't a lake or an ocean?'_ Kakashi frowned as he thought about all the biomes that he knew about, but nothing came to mind. He looked at the next four lines.

' _So basically this beast can poison you and lays eggs. It also has no fur, arms, or legs, what is that supposed to be? Lots of things are giant in the Forest of Death, I think I saw a giant rabbit once. Uh, what do I do? Father would probably tell me to use my head already.'_ Kakashi felt a pang of guilt when he thought about his father. Because he had been so busy training for the chunin exams, he had barely seen Sakumo in the past few weeks except for that time before Hanami's funeral. Kakashi hadn't even told Sakumo about the chunin exams yet, though he knew he would find out sooner or later. He knew that his father wouldn't want him to attend, but he wanted to. Kakashi wanted to help win the war, and staying back at the village doing D-Rank missions wasn't helping enough.

Eventually, Tatsuo groaned and sat back.

"I give up, this is too hard." Haruki sighed and laid her muzzle on her paws. Mai let out a frustrated yell.

"Ahh, this is impossible. Why is this so hard?"

Kakashi sighed and was about to go back to studying the scroll when Haruki suddenly sat up and whined anxiously. Tatsuo was instantly on alert and sniffed the air. His eyes went wide.

"There's a team outside right now. I think they've detected the genjutsu."

Kakashi and Mai stood quietly, hands hovering over their weapon pouches. "Tatsuo, use your Fang Over Fang and try to hit one of them, Mai and I will cover you." Kakashi whispered. For once, Tatsuo didn't question his order. He glanced at Haruki and they charged outside, Kakashi and Mai followed closely.

"Fang Over Fang!" The two swirling drills smashed into the ground where the enemy team was standing a second ago. There were two girls and one boy on the enemy team, all of them looked to be a few years older than Mai and Tatsuo. The girls looked to be twins, both having straight brown hair pulled into a ponytail and dark green eyes. Kakashi recognized the boy, it was Monki Sarutobi, son of the Third Hokage and brother to Asuma Sarutobi. He looked similar to Asuma, with short black hair and brown eyes.

"Scatter! We were found out!" One of the girls, Twin 1, shouted. Her twin, Twin 2, immediately threw some kunai at Tatsuo, but they were all deflected by the swirling action of Tatsuo's Fang Over Fang. Kakashi quickly launched an attack of his own. ' _Boar, Ram, Snake, Horse, Dragon!'_

"Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder!" This was a new jutsu that Minato had taught him, and though Kakashi didn't have enough chakra to make it fatal yet, it was still powerful enough to paralyzed a genin for a few seconds. A bolt of bright blue lightning shot from his outstretched hand and hit Twin 2. She fell to the ground, limbs twitching uncontrollably. Mai seized the chance and put her opposing thumbs and index fingers together.

"Mind Trans-!" Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time to start the jutsu before Monki pulled her away. Mai quickly ended the jutsu so she wouldn't be disabled for the several minutes. Kakashi tensed as Monki went through some hand signs. He made a ring with his thumb and index finger and took a deep breath.

"Fire Release: Fireball Jutsu!" A huge ball of flames shot towards Kakashi and Mai. They quickly dodged to the right, avoiding the blazing hot attack, but had no time prepare themselves as Twin 1 threw a bunch of kunais at them. They deflected it easily, and the kunais landed around them. However, a hissing sound soon filled the air.

"Explosive tags!" Kakashi shouted. He only had enough time to bring up his arms to shield his head before they went off. He braced himself for the pain, but it never came. Instead, something crashed into him and threw him backwards. A soft whine told Kakashi who it was.

"Thank you, Haruki." The black dog growled in acknowledgment before running off to her owner. Kakashi glanced towards Mai, and was glad to see that she was fine. However, Tatsuo, who had pushed Mai out of the way, was not so fine. Mai had been closer to the tag than Kakashi had been, so Tatsuo was not able to escape the blast entirely. His right arm and side was badly burned.

"We're from the same village! Why are you trying to kill us?" Mai shouted furiously. Twin 1 smirked, twirling a kunai on her finger.

"This isn't just a friendly competition among comrades. It's a test to determine who is good enough to make chunin. Whoever makes chunin will be able to fight in the war."

"You would attempt to kill your own comrades just to fight in the war? Why would you want to fight in the war anyway?" Kakashi accused. Twin 2 laughed mockingly.

"It isn't just about fighting. It's about earning respect through winning fights and becoming a hero." She said. Tatsuo snarled in anger.

"You're both disgusting people! Don't you care about your comrades at all? Hundreds of people are dying, and all you care about is your own reputation?!" Tatsuo shouted, gritting his teeth against the pain from his burns. Haruki was beside him, gently licking her partner's wounds. The twins flushed in anger at Tatsuo words, their gazes switching from mocking to downright murderous.

"How dare you insult me? You…" Twin 1 began angrily. She started forward, hands already running through seals. Kakashi tensed, they were at a disadvantage here, with Tatsuo down and the opposing team being more experienced than they were. But it didn't mean that they had no chance of winning, they still had one more trick up their sleeve: Mai's Mind Transfer Jutsu.

"Wait!" Monki held up an arm to stop her from attacking. Unlike his teammates, Monki looked almost sympathetic towards them.

"What?" Twin 1 said impatiently.

"They're no match for us, so why should we waste our time to deal with them?" Monki turned to Kakashi, Mai, and Tatsuo and held out a hand. "Give us your medals and scroll and we'll let you go unharmed."

"Like we ever will! We're no match for you? You're no match for us! Just because you're older doesn't mean you're better!" Tatsuo shouted defiantly.

"Yeah, like we're ever going to give up! You just wait! We're going to beat you up! Even if we gave you our scroll, you're too dumb to figure out what the answer is!" Mai yelled from beside him. Kakashi grinned under his mask, he knew that Tatsuo and Mai would never give up. They were one of the most stubbornest people he had ever met, second to only Obito and Kushina.

"See Monki? They're just arrogant brats. Let's teach them a lesson." Twin 2 said. "And for your information, we already figured out our answer. We got the medal so easily, all we had to do was push that tiger into a swamp and watch it drown while we took the scroll from it's back." Monki sighed regretfully and shrugged. Twin 2 smiled evilly and started to make seals, but Kakashi wasn't paying attention. _'I got it! The answer to the riddle!'_ Kakashi was snapped out of his musing when Twin 2 had finished preparing for her jutsu.

"Water Release: Raging Waves!" Water gushed out from Twin 2's mouth, and Kakashi narrowly avoided the powerful waves. Tatsuo started throwing shurikens at Twin 1 as fast as he could with his right hand while Mai and Haruki also ran towards Twin 2. Kakashi almost reached Twin 2 when he saw Twin 1 raise both of her hands.

"Lightning Release: Thunderbolt!" Jets of blue lightning enveloped her arms and raced down her body to the water she was standing in. Kakashi and Mai quickly jumped up so they were not touching the water anymore. Luckily Tatsuo was lying on a small hill, so the water did not reach him, but Haruki didn't jump fast enough, and the lightning hit her.

"Haruki!" Tatsuo shouted. Haruki whined in pain as her body convulsed and fell into the water. Kakashi hastily ran over to her and picked her up. He was only able to touch her because his chakra nature was lightning, which automatically makes the effect of most electric shocks smaller. Kakashi laid Haruki down next to Tatsuo and quickly returned into the fight. Tatsuo waited until the electricity on Haruki's fur disappeared before gently petting her. His expression turned furious.

"You're going down no matter what! Nobody hurts Haruki and gets away with it!" Tatsuo grabbed a bunch of kunais from his weapon pouch and threw them at Twin 1. An idea suddenly came to Kakashi, and he also started to throw kunais at Twin 1, though with something extra attached to them. He made sure that his throws were accurate. If he could make this work, it might turn the fight to their favor. Kakashi made sure to attack Twin 2 as well, just in case she decided to attack them while they were focusing on Twin 1. Mai was currently engaged in a fight against Monki, though Kakashi knew she wouldn't last long against the more experienced genin.

"Mai! Get ready to use your jutsu!" Kakashi shouted to her. All of his kunais were exactly where he wanted them to be, Kakashi just hoped this would work. He quickly threw some kunais with explosive tags tied to them, making Monki jump away. Twin 2 tensed, preparing for whatever Mai's jutsu is, when they all heard Twin 1 gasp in shock. Earlier, Kakashi had tied strings of wire to the kunais and shurikens, and he had slowly created a net of wires around Twin 1. Twin 1 had tried to move forward, but her leg snagged on a wire and she almost tripped. When she tried to lift her head, a wire on top blocked her.

"You sneaky brats! Wait till I get out of this!" Twin 1 reached down to her weapon pouch with some difficulty and managed to take out a kunai, though her hands were badly cut from the wires.

"Mind Transfer Jutsu!" Mai said, her hands in a box shape. Twin 1 paled, she knew how powerful of a jutsu this was. She quickly cut the wires, paying no heed to the fact that the wires could cut her severely if she was not careful. It all came down to who was faster. If Twin 1 was able to dodge Mai's jutsu, Mai would be unconscious for several minutes, giving the opposing team plenty of time to end the fight. And with Mai, Tatsuo, and Haruki down, and Kakashi being the only one who could fight properly, the fight wasn't going to be much of a challenge for them.

Mai collapsed the same instance Twin 1 cut herself loose and leaped away. Twin 1 closed her eyes briefly when she leaped away, but Kakashi couldn't tell whether it was because of the jutsu or if it was just a reflex.

"Did it work?" Tatsuo asked. Kakashi held his breath as Twin 1 slowly opened her eyes. A smug smile appeared on her face.

"Nope. The jutsu missed. I told you they were just little kids."

Kakashi's heart sank. They had no chance to win now.

' _We failed.'_

* * *

The Sandaime Hokage sat in his office, his hair growing whiter by the second. Konoha was losing the war, slowly and surely. The Hidden Rock had allied with the Hidden Cloud to fight against the leaf village. The Hidden Mist was still attacking every village except for its own. He also had a meeting with the Kazekage later this week, which the result could range from forming an alliance that would hopefully help them win the war to getting himself assassinated. And also add the fact that the chunin exams were made easier to pass so more soldiers, no, children, could be sent out to fight, and _die,_ in the war because Konoha needed more soldiers. No, the Third Hokage was not happy.

Most of Konoha's forces were at the border between the Hidden Grass and the Land of Fire. The Hidden Rock was slowly but surely pushing them back. The Three Sannin were currently hunting down Hiruko, the betrayal of their friend had hit them hard. He had also been sending Minato to help turn the tide of many battles and skirmishes, but he never sent Minato too far away. The Third Hokage made sure he could always return within a day. If the village was attacked, it would take more than the Third Hokage, the Nine Tails Jinchuriki, and a bunch of genins to defend it.

The Third Hokage turned back to the map, trying to decide where to target next, when the constant stream of voices outside his office had suddenly stopped. After a moment, he heard his assistant's voice.

"Shimura-sama, the Hokage is currently busy!"

"This is urgent." Came the reply. The Third Hokage sighed, _'Not now, Danzo.'_ He then raised his voice to the people outside could hear.

"It's fine. Let him come in." He said. The Third Hokage waited until the door was closed and Danzo was in his office before speaking.

"What?"

"The Hidden Rock had succeeded in pushing us back several miles into the Land of Fire. Furthermore, most of the spies we sent have been found out and killed." Danzo's calm voice said, as if none of that mattered. The Third Hokage clenched his hands into fists and puffed on his pipe. If this continued, Konoha would lose the war.

"As soon as the Three Sannin are finished hunting down Hiruko, send them there. Also send Minato Namikaze to help push back the line. We _must_ hold the line, no matter what." The Third Hokage paused to take a few deep puffs from his pipe, then continued. "As for the spies, are there any professional spies in our village?"

"No, but I could train some in a week if you'll give me permission to reform R-"

"No!" The Third Hokage said sharply. "Root is an inhumane and cruel thing."

"Do we have any choice?" Danzo countered. "The village's safety against the insignificant emotions of several people, which is more important?"

The Third Hokage's mouth tightened on the pipe. Everything Danzo said was true, but should he agree? He stood up and turned around to look down at the streets below through the window. Even though it was wartime, children still played happily on the streets. If they lost the war, the children's parents would probably be slaughtered, and those who had some potential to be ninjas would be brainwashed to forget their loyalty to Konoha while the others who didn't have any potential would be killed. Did he want that? With a heavy feeling in his heart, he spoke.

"Very well, Danzo. You have permission to rebuild Root. Dismissed." The Sandaime Hokage could almost hear the sound of children shouting at him, accusing him of letting them go through the rigorous and cruel training of Root, but he tuned them out. He had a war to win, and he was going to succeed, no matter what prices he had to pay.

* * *

Minato walked toward the Hatake Compound with Kushina beside him. Minato wasn't sure whether Sakumo knew that Kakashi was currently in Stage 2 of the chunin exams, so he felt like it was his responsibility to tell his student's father. When he told Kushina about his idea, she had decided to come along to cheer Sakumo up. Sakumo probably didn't know though, or else he would have already been barging into the Hokage's office demanding the nomination to be cancelled. Because if there was one thing that Minato was a hundred percent sure of about Sakumo, it was that he loved Kakashi. He knew just as well as anyone else that chunin could be sent out on battlefields, and one who was the genius son of the legendary White Fang would be targeted by enemy shinobi, trying to eliminate Kakashi before he grew up and became powerful. If Minato was honest with himself, he was secretly hoping that Kakashi would fail Stage 1 of the chunin exams, but that was not going to happen. The Third Hokage had gone out of his way to find the genin team that would work the best with Kakashi so he would be safe, but that also gave him a bigger chance of passing the exams.

They reached the Hatake Compound after a few minutes. The entire front yard was completely silent, giving the whole area an eerie feeling. Minato hesitated in front of the front door, not that willing to knock, but Kushina felt no such nervousness. She marched straight up to the door and knocked, smiling friendly.

"Hey! Sakumo! You in there? This is Kushina. Minato's also here with me!" There was no answer. Kushina expression turned into a furious one and started to kick the door.

"Sakumo! Open up _right_ now or I'll kick the door open! Don't think I don't know you're in there! You're always in there these days!" Kushina yelled as her kicks grew more violent. Minato laughed nervously and gently pulled her away from the door before she kicked it down.

"Kushina, let's not kick the door down, okay? Just calm down-"

"Calm down? What do you mean by calm down? Am I not _calm_ right now?" Kushina said as she crossed her arms with a menacing expression. Minato unconsciously took one step back.

"Well…"

Before Minato could say anything more, the door opened. And inside dark and foreboding doorway was Sakumo.

"H-Hatake-sama!" Minato said, startled.

"Hehe, hi there Sakumo. Nice to see you. I wasn't really going to kick down your door, ya know." Kushina said while guiltily scratching the back of her head. Minato waited for a response, but all Sakumo did was turn around and walk back inside, leaving the door open. Minato and Kushina exchanged a glance, then after a moment's hesitation, walked in after him.

The house was covered with dust and cobwebs. The blinds were all down, and no lights were on. Minato coughed as he stumbled into a pile of dust. Eyes watering, he looked into the kitchen, where Sakumo was sitting down.

"Sakumo?" Kushina said gently, sensing the sadness coming off from Sakumo. Sakumo didn't react. He looked as if he hadn't slept for more than a few hours in this entire month. More lines were also present on his face, making him look years older than he actually was. Minato frowned slightly and sat down across from Sakumo while Kushina made some tea. She set three cups down and sat beside Minato.

"Why are you here?" Sakumo's voice was gruff and raspy. His eyes shifted up and looked from Kushina to Minato. A flicker of unease appeared in his eyes. "Is it about Kakashi? Has something happened again?"

"Well, I don't know if you already know, but...Kakashi's attending the chunin exams. He's in Stage 2 right now." Minato said. Sakumo's expression went from resigned and tired to alarmed in a split second. Minato gulped and quickly said, "Kakashi's doing fine though, his teammates are also pretty nice to him and I'm sure there's going to be no danger since it's only Konoha attending…"

Minato trailed off. It was clear that Sakumo wasn't listening to him. He slammed his hand down on the table suddenly, making the tea spill from the cups. Sakumo stood up, and glowered at Minato with a furious expression.

"Why in the world would you nominate him? Was I wrong to trust you as Kakashi's sensei?" Sakumo shouted. Kushina gasped in outrage and stood up too, going eye to eye with Sakumo.

"How _dare_ you accuse Minato of that? He would never do that to Kakashi dattebane!" Kushina yelled right back at him. Sakumo turned to look at Minato, looking every inch the powerful shinobi he is. Minato felt beads of sweat gather on his forehead, but he met Sakumo's gaze without flinching.

"I didn't want to. It was the last thing I wanted to do to Kakashi, but I had no choice." Minato said sincerely. Sakumo stared at him for a few moments more, trying to determine whether he was telling the truth or not, then he sighed and seemed to deflate as he sat down. Sakumo was silent for a long time before speaking again.

"I'm sorry for accusing you of that. Just tell me, how is Kakashi? He's been more distant lately, he barely stays in the house anymore."

"He's been training hard. He says he won't stop until he's as strong as you." Minato said cheerfully, but then his expression sobered. "If Kakashi does pass, you know he could be sent out to fight in the war."

"I know, that's why I want to ask a favor from both of you." Sakumo said. He looked at them seriously before saying.

"In the event that I am unable to, please protect Kakashi to the best of your ability." Sakumo's eyes bore into his and Kushina's.

After a moment's silence, Minato nodded and met Sakumo's eyes.

"With my life."

"Me too! Dattebane!" Kushina chimed in, though she then said angrily. "If only that old geezer would just let me go out and fight!"

Sakumo sighed in relief. He nodded in thanks, but Minato heard him murmur something that sounded suspiciously like "now I can rest assured." Minato was about to ask him about it, when Sakumo spoke again.

"When does the Third Stage of the chunin exams begin?" After telling Sakumo the date, Minato and Kushina were politely asked to leave him alone with his thoughts. Not willing to intrude anymore, Minato left with Kushina.

As Minato left the Hatake Compound that day, he felt as if something bad, no, horrible was about to happen. He wrote it off as Kakashi passing the chunin exams, which he couldn't do anything about. Little did he know, that was the last time he ever saw Konoha's White Fang alive.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

* * *

"Let's finish this!" Twin 2 said. Kakashi heard Tatsuo growl behind him and readied a kunai.

"Water Release: Raging Waves!" Waves of water once again shot out from Twin 1's mouth. Right after Twin 1 finished the jutsu, Monki charged towards Tatsuo and Haruki. Kakashi tried to run over there, but Twin 2 blocked his path.

"Where are you going, little boy?" She taunted. "Why don't you just run home to your mommy and daddy already?"

Kakashi gritted his teeth. That was it, she was going _down_! But winning this fight was more important right now. He sprang to one side, trying to run past Twin 2. Twin 2 blocked him easily, but Kakashi got a glimpse of Twin 1 directing the wave of water toward Monki before Twin 2 blocked his view. Kakashi's heart missed a beat and hoped that he would have enough time to dodge it.

Wait, Monki? Kakashi looked again and couldn't believe his eyes. Instead of attacking Mai or Tatsuo, Twin 1 was aiming her jutsu at Monki. Kakashi must have been gaping or something, because Twin 2 turned around to look, even though you were _never_ supposed to turn your back on the enemy. She stumbled back in shock.

"Monki, look out!" Twin 2 shouted. Monki spun around, but was too late to dodge the humongous wave of water that was crashing down onto him. The water carried Monki up several feet before smashing him into a tree. Kakashi winced as he focused chakra into his feet to keep himself from being swept away by the water, hopefully the crash wasn't too hard, he had no grudge against Monki. After the water settled down, Monki was left lying at the base of the tree, unconscious. Several feet behind him, Twin 1 grinned in triumph.

"What were you thinking?" Twin 2 said furiously. She ran towards Monki and checked his pulse. She breathed a sigh of relief when she found out that Monki was fine. Kakashi realized that no matter how cruel Twin 2 was, she still cared for her teammates, like most people in Konoha did. _'Though that didn't stop them from turning their backs on father.'_ Kakashi thought bitterly.

Twin 2 stood up and faced her twin. They looked almost identical, and would have been impossible to tell apart if not for the fact that Twin 1 wore a blue bracelet while Twin 2 wore a yellow bracelet. "Why were you attacking Monki? What's wrong with you, sister?"

Twin 1 started laughing, so hard that she doubled over and began wheezing uncontrollably as tears filled her eyes. Kakashi, Tatsuo, and Twin 2 stared in shock until Twin 1 wiped the tears from her eyes and straightened.

"Well, I guess my cover is blown now. I'm not your sister. I'm Mai Yamanaka, and I have successfully possessed your sister's body. Come on, Tatsuo, Kakashi, you thought I actually missed?"

Tatsuo gaped at her, totally dumbstruck, but Kakashi grinned and gave Mai a thumbs up. Twin 2 tried to run away, but Mai took out a kunai and raised it to Twin 1's neck.

"Run, and I'll kill your sister."

"You wouldn't dare." Twin 2 said, but her voice trembled, betraying her fear. "I know about the Mind Transfer Jutsu. Whatever happens to the possessed body happens to the user as well."

"Maybe I won't, but are you willingly to risk your sister's life? All you have to do is to hand over your medals." Mai said, her voice unusually cold. Kakashi knew Mai would never harm herself or another fellow Konoha shinobi, but he still felt uneasy seeing the kunai at Mai's throat. Tatsuo, who knew Mai longer, was staring at the kuani so anxiously as if he wanted to run up and take the kunai from Mai.

Twin 2 hesitated, pride and worry for her sister and Monki warring on her face. Finally, she reached for the medal around her neck and threw it towards Kakashi. She then started unwrapping some bandages on her ankle until a blue ribbon could be seen. Twin 2 tugged on it and pulled the medal out of her sandal. Instead of being gold like the medals each contestant was, it was silver. It also had the number 3 in the center.

"I though the medals needed to be visible?" Tatsuo said.

"The proctors only said that the medals each person receives has to be visible at all times, not the ones you find." Twin 2 replied and threw the medal towards Kakashi. Haruki went to Monki and took the medal from him while Mai took the medal off from Twin 1.

"Very well, I'll leave your sister's body. Don't mess with us again." Mai ended the jutsu and returned to her own body. Tatsuo got on Haruki, and before Twin 1 could open her eyes, Mai, Kakashi, and Tatsuo had already left.

* * *

 _Everything in Konoha seems to be normal, though Konoha's White Fang, Sakumo Hatake, seems to be ostracized from the general populace. Has been forbidden to go on any missions. There are about four teams of four ANBU that guard the village. Was unable to investigate further because of the exams. Most of the genins are well trained, though none of them show exceptional talent except the White Fang's son, Kakashi Hatake, who is only 6, yet could potentially become chunin. No one is suspicious of me yet, not even Shian Hanareru's sensei and genin teammates._

Roshi carefully rolled up the scroll and tied it to his messenger bird. He looked around carefully, even sending out his chakra to make sure no one was there. Roshi was currently sitting just outside the fence surrounding the Forest of Death, having climbed out. The sun was rising behind him, marking the second day of Stage 2 of the chunin exams. After making sure that no one was around, he send the messenger bird away, and climbed back into the Forest of Death.

Roshi was born and raised a Rock shinobi, and he had no intention to betray his village. He would have stayed there his whole life and had never even thought about visiting another village. However, his most recent mission had required him to go into the Leaf village and gather any information he could, and he had to accept because he was the only 15 year old who had a similar height and weight to Shian. There was some debate about whether or not he should be allowed to go on this mission since Roshi housed Son Goku, the Four Tails, inside him, but in the end the need for information won.

Roshi would disguise as a Konoha genin named Shian Hanareru. A team of Rock ninja had spied on Shian for over a month, and noted his appearance, behavior, and personality. Then, when Shian had gone to the graveyard to mourn his brother, he had been killed, and Roshi, who already had his hair dyed black with hair dye that couldn't be washed off with water and wearing contacts that made his eyes appear green like Shian's, went into Konoha and behaved like Shian would.

Roshi ducked under a branch and stepped out into a clearing. Right when he did that, laughter rang inside his head.

' _What now, beast?'_

' _Look to the left.'_ The Fourth Tails said.

Roshi glanced to the left. Panic seized him immediately, he leaped to the right, trying to get out of the clearing where there was no cover. But it was no use, three Konoha genin that were nearby had already seen him.

* * *

"There's someone here!" Tatsuo shouted. Kakashi sensed movement near the right, and saw a lock of black hair before it disappeared. They all shifted into battle stances, facing in the direction where the mysterious figure had last been seen.

"Come out, whoever you are! We know you're there!" Mai said. Kakashi palmed a kunai in each hand and readied himself for an attack. Seeing no point in hiding himself any longer, the figure stepped out into the open.

"Shian!" Tatsuo exclaimed. "What are you doing here, buddy?"

"I was trying to find some food, so I climbed over the fence. You won't tell the proctors though, right?" The genin, Shian, said. It seemed that Tatsuo and Shian were friends, though Kakashi still didn't let his guard down. Kakashi didn't see Shian's teammates anywhere, they could be hiding somewhere waiting to ambush them for all he knew.

"Relax, Kakashi. Shian's a friend, he wouldn't attack us," said Mai. Kakashi nodded, but he still regarded Shian warily.

"Who's that? Did you bring a kid to the _chunin exams_ , Tatsuo?" Shian said, noticing Kakashi for the first time. Kakashi scowled at being called a kid, but didn't react.

"That's our teammate, Kakashi." Tatsuo said, raising his hand to gesture to Kakashi, and twitched in pain when he accidentally moved his injured side.

"Ouch, that looks like it hurts." Shian said, wincing sympathetically. "Here, this will help." He dug around in his pouch and gave Tatsuo a tube. "It's a cream that treats burns."

"Wow, thanks buddy," said Tatsuo and bumped fists with Shian. Mai rolled her eyes at their antics.

"We have to go now, Tatsuo. It should be somewhere around here." Mai said. Tatsuo shrugged apologetically at Shian.

"Sorry, have to hurry now. See you!" Tatsuo said. Shian waved goodbye and leaped onto a tree branch. After a few seconds, he had disappeared into the forest.

"Hurry up, Tatsuo! There's only one day left," said Mai.

"Yeah, yeah, got it." Tatsuo murmured. Mai shot him an annoyed look as he and Haruki started to sniff the air. "It's this way!" Tatsuo said, pointed behind them. They walked for a few more minutes before arriving at their destination.

"I can't believe we didn't think of this earlier, it could have saved us so much time." Kakashi said, carefully standing on a tree branch. "One wrong step and you will be forever silenced, we should have realized that it was a _swamp_." (I just realized that there could be flowers in a swamp. But in _this_ swamp, there's no flowers, so the riddle is still true)

"Well, no use crying over spilled milk, let's get to it." Mai said, clapping her hands. "So where's that beast?"

As if answering her question, an ominous slithering sound could be heard coming closer and closer to them. _'Whatever it is,'_ Kakashi thought to himself, _'it sounds humongous.'_

Branches crackled, and a giant triangular head the size of a grand piano appeared in the forest in front of them. Kakashi gulped, he didn't like the look of it's fangs, especially since it was poisonous.

" _That's_ what we're going to have to steal the medal from?! A snake?!" Mai said, voice trembling. Tatsuo laid a hand on her shoulder reassuringly.

"Don't worry, I won't let that _beast_ get to you." Tatsuo said, eyes fixed on the incoming animal, voice serious.

"Oh, shut up. I'm fine." Mai said, though a blush could be seen on her face. She looked back at the snake, which opened it's mouth threatenly. "Me, Tatsuo, and Haruki will distract it, Kakashi, you go find the medal."

"I can fight too, you know." Kakashi murmured, but a glare from Mai made him run to find the medal without another word. Kakashi slid down the trunk of the tree, making sure that there was solid ground beneath his foot. He made sure to test the ground with a stick first before stepping on there. If Kakashi fell in the swamp, his life would be forfeit. He reached a clearing and started searching while keeping an eye on the snake.

"Hey, over here, ya dumb snake!" Tatsuo yelled, riding on Haruki. He took out some kunais and threw it at the snake, aiming for it's eyes. The snake hissed and turned it's head so the kunais bounced harmlessly off it's hard scales.

"Don't anger it! We just need to find the medal and hightail out of here. Just lead it away from Kakashi." Mai admonished. But it was too late, the snake's colossal tail rose, blocking out the sun.

"Run!" Kakashi shouted as the tail came smashing down. Thankfully, Mai and Tatsuo were both able to dodge in time. However, the tail stopped a meter above the ground, and instead of falling onto the ground, it swung towards the trees that Mai and Tatsuo were standing on. The trunk of the tree was broken in half, so were the other dozen trees that were nearby. Mai and Tatsuo fell off, but were mostly unharmed because the tree wasn't that high.

"Now would be a great time to hurry up, Kakashi!" Tatsuo said as the snake slithered closer. Kakashi hesitated, then turned back to searching. _'Where could they be...not here...not here either...there!'_ Kakashi spotted a shallow hole in the ground, and in it were several eggs. He ran towards the nest and hurriedly searched the eggs. They all looked identical, and not one of them had a crack on it to show that a medal had been placed inside. Kakashi bit his lip, trying to think where the medal was. An idea suddenly hit him.

Kakashi gathered his chakra and put his hands together. "Kai!" The genjutsu disappeared, and in the place of an egg was a box. He opened the box and took out the medal, which looked identical to the one Twin 2 gave them except it had the number 7 in the middle. Kakashi put it around his neck, and was about to tell Tatsuo and Mai that he had the medal when a shadow suddenly appeared on the ground in front of him, a big shadow. Kakashi turned around slowly, and saw the snake looming above him.

"Kakashi!" Mai shouted in warning before the snake struck, mouth open to swallow Kakashi whole. Kakashi's hands quickly ran through seals, and substituted himself with a branch near Tatsuo and Mai just in time.

"I got it, let's go!" Kakashi gasped. They quickly took off and ran. Luckily, the snake didn't chase after them, probably wanting to protect its eggs.

* * *

Kakashi, Tatsuo, and Mai did not run into any more teams for the rest of Day 2. In the morning of Day 3, they came across another team, but chose to not attack and managed to slip away unnoticed. After the sun went down, they decided to go to the tower in the middle of the forest and hand in their medals.

"Okay, here are the results." The same chunin from before announced when every team arrived. "Only 6 teams have passed Stage 2, and you all know who you are since you're the only teams with medals. The 18 teams that don't have any medals, you fail, better luck next year. Also, for team Ami, two of the three genins were injured severely and were disqualified. The last member of team Ami still gets to participate in Stage 3 though. Now, those who failed, leave the tower now."

After the genins left, the chunin turned back to them. "The preliminaries will be held right now. There are 16 of you still left. You will each be paired randomly with another genin, and will have ten minutes to talk with your partner. After ten minutes is up, you and your partner will go up against another pair of genin. Whichever pair wins will advance to Stage 3 of the chunin exams. You have 30 minutes to fight, and you win if the two other genins you are fighting against are unconscious, unable to continue, both genin in a pair has forfeited, or if the procter, me, stops the match because I feel like the other team doesn't stand a chance, no arguments. If after 30 minutes and the fight is not over, the team with the most amount of people still able to fight wins, and if the number of people on each team is the same, the team with the best teamwork wins. Lastly, I shouldn't need to say this, but you are not allowed to intentionally kill another Konoha genin, though accidents do happen. That's all the rules, now look on the screen behind you to find your partner."

Kakashi turned quickly and glanced at the screen. He quickly found Tatsuo and Mai's name.

 _Pair #4: Tatsuo Inuzuka and Mai Yamanaka_

' _Lucky, they don't have to try to work with another genin they don't know.'_ Kakashi thought to himself. He kept looking, and he finally found his name.

 _Pair #7: Shian Hanareru and Kakashi Hatake_

"Hey, Kakashi!"

Kakashi turned to see Shian walking towards him, an easy grin on his face.

"Looks like you're my partner. So, what techniques can you do?" Shian said. Kakashi was about to answer, when he remembered Minato cautioning him against revealing his jutsus to other people.

 _Remember Kakashi, never tell someone what jutsus you can do, what your strengths are, your weaknesses, those kind of stuff. It can always be used against you in a fight._

' _But this is Konoha, it's not like I'm telling it to the enemy or something,"_ thought Kakashi. _'There's no harm in telling Shian, he seems friendly enough.'_ Kakashi opened his mouth to speak, when Sakumo's lessons echoed through his mind.

 _There are three important things you must always remember throughout your life, Kakashi. One, always treasure your friends and comrades. Have their back and they will have yours. Two, never make someone suffer unnecessarily. I don't want to have to tell you this, but killing is part of a ninja's life just as much as fighting is. Killing in unavoidable, however, it doesn't mean you have to make them suffer. Kill quickly and painlessly, remember, they are just ninja trying to protect their village like you. Third, never trust anyone unless they have earned your trust. And I mean this, Kakashi. Don't trust anyone at first sight, not even someone in Konoha. Understand?_

"I can aim well with shurikens and kunais, and I know some techniques." Kakashi said. "How about you?"

Shian frowned silently, but didn't say anything. "I'm good at taijutsu and ninjutsu, but horrible with casting a genjutsu, though I can break out of one." He paused and tapped his chin while looked around and the other genin, deep in thought. "Okay, how about this. You stay out of the way and I'll handle it. You just throw kunais and shurikens and try not to hit me."

"What?" Kakashi growled. "Listen, I'm not a kid, and don't treat me like one. I can fight, or else my jonin sensei would have never nominated me for the chunin exams. I'll fight right beside you."

"Then you'll have to tell me more about what you can do. So far, all I know is that you can throw shurikens and kunais." Shian replied.

"Are you trying to get see how I fight in preparation for Stage 3?" Kakashi asked suspiciously.

"So what if I am?" Shian said. Kakashi weighed the pros and cons of answering Shian's question.

"You can find out by yourself, I'm not telling you anything. Besides, if we don't work together, we'll have a smaller chance of winning." Kakashi said finally.

"Oh, I'm not afraid of not winning, but fine, you can have your way. I'll distract them and you pretend to be useless and stuff, then go in for the kill. Deal?" Something in Shian's eyes disturbed Kakashi slightly when Shian had said the word "kill," as if he really wanted to.

"Time's up!" A chunin shouted. "Head this way to the arena." The chunin pointed to a door, and the other genins started going towards it.

"Very well, deal." Kakashi said, and went with the other genin to walk through the door.

They emerged onto a balcony that overlooked an arena. On the floor on the other side of the room was the statue of a two hands in a ninjutsu hand sign. On top of the statue was a screen that was currently blank.

"Alright, spread out. The first match will be shown on the screen soon." The chunin said before leaping down into the arena. Kakashi stood next to Tatsuo, Mai, and Shian.

"Good luck, squirt. Hope you win, though if we're fighting against you, I'm not going to hold back." Tatsuo said. His burns had improved due to the burn cream, and he was able to move his leg and arm with only slight discomfort.

"I won't either." Kakashi replied. Before he could say anymore, the screen started flickering through names.

 _Yuu Moe and Akihiko Takehiko vs. Sachiko Masami and Hideki Yuuto_

"If your name is on the screen, come down into the arena." The chunin said. Four genins walked down into the arena, and as soon as the proctor said "start!" they began fighting. It was clear that one team was far superior to the other, and the fight was over in no time. Another two pairs were called, but Kakashi still hadn't seen his name or Tatsuo and Mai's. He hoped he didn't have to fight them, he could tell how much they wanted to become chunin and help Konoha fight the war.

The second fight was over, and the screen once again flickered and stopped.

 _Chou Katsuro and Ran Kumiko vs. Tatsuo Inuzuka and Mai Yamanaka_

"Good luck." Kakashi said as they went down into the arena. Mai smiled and flashed a thumbs up.

"Ready? Begin!" The proctor said. Tatsuo immediately leaped into action, literally. He launched himself at Chou, punching him in the jaw. Haruki was snarling at Ran, keeping him from helping Chou while Mai was preparing for a jutsu of some kind. Ran and Chou had both only been genin for a year, and both were not particularly talented, so the fight was over in no time, with Haruki pinning down Chou and Mai holding a kunai to Ran's throat.

"Tatsuo Inuzuka and Mai Yamanaka win this match. If you are injured you may head to the medics to your right." The procter said boredly. After the four genin had left the arena, the remaining two pairs appeared on the screen.

"May Shian Hanareru, Kakashi Hatake, Kenshin Chinatsu, and Mika Noboru come down to the arena immedietally."

Kakashi headed to the staircase, Shian walking beside him. When they were far away enough from the other genins, he turned to Kakashi.

"The genins we're going against are my teammates. Listen, Mika prefers to use genjutsu over taijutsu and ninjutsu, so be on your guard. And I have never seen Kenshin miss a target (the wooden ones, not people) for the entire time I've know him, not even when he's falling off a tree with his leg broken. Though he's pretty soft hearted and probably will go easy on you."

Kakashi nodded, processing the information. "Let's focus on defeating Mika first, then dealing with Kenshin."

Shian voiced his agreement, and they stepped off the last stair to stand directly in front of Shian's teammates.

"Hey guys." Shian said cheerfully. "I wish we didn't have to fight each other, but I'm afraid you're not going to make chunin this year."

"Don't be so sure, we have better teamwork than you have with your partner." Mika said, arms crossed.

"Okay, enough chit chat. Ready?" They nodded. The procter raised his hand, then brought it sharply down.

"Begin!"

Kakashi leaped back, dodging the wave of shurikens that were thrown at him. Shian ran forward, arms already flashing through seals. He completed the last one, and slammed his hands on the ground.

"Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears!" Spikes made of earth appeared out of the ground below Mika and Kenshin, who both dodged.

' _And not a second too soon,"_ Kakashi thought to himself. _'That could have skewered them.'_ Now that he thought about it, Shian wasn't attacking with the carefulness one had when sparring with comrades. He wasn't even holding back, and there was a gleam in his eyes as he attempted to stab Mika with a kunai.

Kakashi shook his head slightly and joined the fight, parrying a blow from Kenshin. Kenshin backed away a couple of steps, and Kakashi was about to move forward when he was hit in the stomach with a powerful blow. He stumbled back and managed not to fall. _'What was that? Kenshin didn't hit me, and Mika's too far away.'_ Another hit came, this time landing on his shoulder. _'Wait, Mika...genjutsu!"_

"Kai!" The world rotated 180 degrees, and Kakashi saw Kenshin coming towards him. He quickly dodged it and returned a punch. The genjutsu had made him think that he was facing forward when in reality he was facing in the opposite direction. If he hadn't realized that he was under a genjutsu, Kakashi would have been in big trouble now. Kakashi gathered his chakra, and waited until Kenshin had leaped backwards to use the only lightning style jutsu he knew. He hadn't wanted to use it before Stage 3 of the chunin exams, but he had to end the fight before Mika cast another genjutsu.

"Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder!" Kenshin dodged to the side, but the jutsu wasn't aimed at him. It was aimed at Mika, who wasn't expecting the 6-year old rookie genin to use a jutsu. She managed to dodge the electricity, but it hit the kunai that she was holding. The kunai was made of metal, which conducted electricity well. Mika lost her footing for a second, and Shian only needed that second to get behind her with a kunai pointing at her back.

"Mika Noboru, you are now out of the fight." The proctor said. Kenshin, realizing that he was now alone, threw another wave of kunai to try to get some distance between them. Kakashi dodged the kunais, but Shian grunted with pain. Kakashi quickly looked back, one of the kunais had hit his leg. Using the second when his head was turned, Kenshin had thrown several shuriken. Kakashi gasped in pain when three of them hit his left shoulder.

"Sorry kid, didn't want to have to hurt you. Just forfeit, wait until you're grown up before attending the chunin exams." Kenshin said before readying another round of shuriken. Kakashi gritted his teeth and pulled the shurikens out, ignoring the blood seeping out from the wounds.

"Come on Kakashi! You can do it!" Tatsuo shouted from above. Haruki barked in encouragement. Kakashi thought he heard Mai huff with amusement, but he didn't dare look away from Kenshin again. He did take some comfort from their encouragement though.

Shian was still on the ground, his leg most likely hurt from the kunai, so no help there. Kakashi tried to remember what to do when fighting against a weapon user. If he engaged them in close combat, they wouldn't be able to use their weapons. Though could he win in close combat against a genin who was older and stronger than him? Kakashi recalled Minato's advice.

 _You're still young, Kakashi. This will change when you grow up, but for now, you're at a disadvantage because of your size and reach. However, turn that into an advantage. Most people aren't used to having to fight a child. Make yourself as small as possible, stay low to the ground, and target their feet and the back of their knees._

Kakashi darted forward, Kenshin threw the shuriken, and this time Kakashi was able to dodge all of them, though one of them passed dangerously close by his side. When Kakashi got close enough, Kenshin threw a punch, but missed when Kakashi suddenly ducked his head. When Kakashi stood straight, his head was about level with Kenshin's chest. But if he ducked his head, Kenshin would have to bend down a little in order to hit him. Kakashi raised his foot, and stomped on Kenshin's toes as hard as he could.

"Where did y-oww that hurt!" Kenshin yelped and backed away, but Shian was behind him, having finally taken that kunai out of his leg. Shian held a kunai against Kenshin's neck.

"Alright, alright, I yield." Kenshin said, wincing from the pain from his foot.

"Winner, Shian Hanareru and Kakashi Hatake. Those who lost may leave now. Everyone who won can line up in front of me." The proctor said. After everyone was where they were supposed to be, the proctor took out a bucket. In it were eight slips of paper.

"The number you get will determine who you fight in Stage 3 of the chunin exams, which will take place in two weeks."

"Two weeks?" Kakashi heard Tatsuo murmur. "It used to be a month."

"Shut up!" Mai hissed.

One by one the genins who passed took a slip from the bucket. Kakashi opened his.

 _2_

Kakashi glanced and the other genin's. Tatsuo was a 4, Mai was a 7, and Shian's was...number 1.

"Match #1 will be Shian Hanareru vs. Kakashi Hatake. Match #2 will be Yuu Moe vs. Tatsuo Inuzuka. Match #3 will be Akihiko Takehiko vs. Yuki Michi. Match #4 will be Mai Yamanaka vs. Suzu Hikari. That's all for today, good luck." The procter said before disappearing. As the genin started to leave, Kakashi realized that he knew nothing about Shian except he knew one earth technique. For all he knew, the brief run down of his skill Shian had told him in the ten minutes they were allowed to plan before fighting could be lies, no, they most likely were lies. On the other hand, Shian knew that Kakashi could use a lightning technique, and his general fighting style. _'That was why he got hit by the kunai, he purposely got hit.'_ Kakashi realized. He stared at Shian's retreating back. _'I've got to ask Minato-sensei to train me more. I will make chunin and earn some pride back to the Hatake family.'_

* * *

"Kakashi!" Sakumo's voice called out. Kakashi lifted his head from a scroll, surprised. He stood up and went out into the backyard, where his father was sitting.

"Father?"

"Come here, Kakashi." Sakumo said. Kakashi walked over and sat down beside him. In Sakumo's hand was a scroll that looked pretty old. Sakumo saw Kakashi's gaze and smiled slightly. He held up the scroll.

"Do you know what this is, Kakashi?" Sakumo asked. Kakashi shook his head. Sakumo opened the scroll and rolled it out in front of them. There were rolls and rolls of names on it, written with blood. Kakashi looked at the names more closely, most of them had Hatake as their last name.

"Is this…" Kakashi began, throat suddenly too tight to speak. "Is this the Hatake ninken summoning contract?"

"Yes." Sakumo said. He pointed to the last name on the scroll. "That's my name. It was passed down from my father to me, and now it will be passed to you." Kakashi continued to gape at it. When he was young, he would constantly ask his father when he would be able to sign the summoning contract, and Sakumo would always say it was too soon, and Kakashi had forgotten about it with the chunin exams and the Third Shinobi War happening recently.

"Slice open your thumb, Kakashi, and sign your name. It is time you've learned how to summon your very own ninken."


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

 **Thanks to The3vilFighter for betaing the story.**

 **Response to Ana0205 (Guest):**

 **Thanks! Glad you enjoy it. Sorry this chapter came out so late, but I'll try to get the next chapter out sooner.**

* * *

"Welcome to Stage 3 of the chunin exams. Match #1, Shian Hanareru vs. Kakashi Hatake, will begin in ten minutes." The exam proctor said. Kakashi sat next to Tatsuo, boredly listening to the conversations of the other genin around him. Finally, a chunin came in.

"The rules to Stage 3 are the same as Stage 2. Basically, listen to the proctor and try not to kill your opponent. For those who have been in the chunin exams before, this year its slightly different. If you lose your fight in the first round, you probably won't be promoted to chunin unless you really impress the Hokage. Those who come out first, second, and third in the entire match will definitely be promoted to chunin. Also, unlike the preliminaries, there is no set time limit, but if it goes on for too long the proctor will just pick the genin who seems to have the advantage." The chunin pulled out a piece of paper. "Okay, the first match is about to start, will Shian Hanareru and Kakashi Hatake-" the chunin paused for a fraction of a second when she said "Hatake," Kakashi silently clenched his fists, "follow me." The chunin finished.

Kakashi and Shian got up and walked into the arena. It was a cloudy morning, though it was so dark it seemed like dusk, and it looked like it was going to rain any second. Because of the war, there weren't that many people watching the fight. Most of the crowd were civilians, though Kakashi could see a few ninjas, including Shian's teammates and what looked to be his sensei. Kakashi smiled slightly when he saw Minato and Kushina sitting in the stands, but to his disappointment, he couldn't see Sakumo anywhere. Kakashi stopped and turned to face Shian. The whole audience went silent as they waited for the proctor to start the fight.

"Ready?" The proctor asked. When the two boys nodded, the proctor raised his hand, and quickly swung it downwards before leaping out of the way.

"Begin!"

Shian's green eyes narrowed as he charged forward immediately, trying to catch Kakashi off guard. Kakashi quickly dodged to the side, and by focusing chakra in his feet, ran up the arena wall, throwing several shurikens in the process. Kakashi wasn't sure if he could take down a genin that was twice his age by himself, so he needed to get some help. Luckily, he could summon his ninkens now, but since it required a lot of chakra, he needed to gather some, and that took a long time. All he had to do was dodge Shian's attacks in the meantime, but anything could happen, and Kakashi wasn't about to let down his guard.

Shian threw a couple of kunais with explosive tags, forcing Kakashi to flip off the wall. Predicting where he was going to land before hand, Shian threw shurikens at that spot, forcing Kakashi to quickly pull out a kunai to deflect all of them. However, one still made it through and hit his right hand, causing him to drop the kunai in pain. Kakashi bit his lip and pulled out the shuriken with his other hand, and threw it at Shian.

"So, Kakashi Hatake, since I found out you were my opponent, I decided to do a bit of research on you," said Shian while dodging the shuriken and a couple of kunais from Kakashi. "And I found out a lot of information."

Kakashi didn't answer, choosing to concentrate fully on the fight rather than talk and fight at the same time. He let loose another barrage of shuriken at Shian, but Shian threw down a smoke bomb, and after the smoke cleared, Shian was gone. Kakashi glanced around, but he couldn't see Shian. _'Where is he?'_ Kakashi thought. Then, he felt the ground below his feet tremble slightly.

"Earth Release: Inner Decapitation." Kakashi heard Shian say before his hands grabbed onto Kakashi's legs and tried to pull him down into the ground. Kakashi felt a brief moment of panic before doing the substitution technique, switching with a rock nearby. Shian jumped out of the ground soon after. Kakashi sighed in relief, then reached towards his weapons pouch, but found that it was not there.

"Looking for this?" Shian taunted, waving Kakashi's weapon pouch at him. Kakashi cursed, he must have gotten it while Kakashi was temporarily trapped just then.

"So, as I was about to say before you so _rudely_ interrupted me, I never knew that you were the White Fang's son!" Shian said, a wicked gleam in his eyes.

"How hard must it have been to be the son of a _traitor_!" Shian continued, faking sympathy. Despite seeing the obvious attempt to get a rise out of him, Kakashi felt himself flush with anger. _'No, concentrate on the fight, not his words.'_ Kakashi told himself. He focused on his chakra, he had about half of what he needed so far. However, Shian's next comment made him freeze in his tracks.

"Oh look, there's the traitor. I was wondering when he'd show up." Shian said. Kakashi kept an eye on Shian as he looked up in the stands suspiciously. A familiar silver head could be seen sitting alone. Everyone who was sitting within a five feet radius of Sakumo was glaring at him as they moved away. Disgust was apparent in Minato's blue eyes as he walked away from Sakumo with Kushina, who was making an offensive gesture at Sakumo. Kakashi gaped up at his father, happiness filling his heart that he finally came. Then something suddenly clicked in his mind.

"Release!" Nothing happened, so Kakashi took out a kunai and stabbed himself in the arm. The genjutsu shattered, and despite him knowing it was false, Kakashi glanced at the spot where Sakumo was in the genjutsu. He still wasn't there, but Minato was leaning against railing anxiously. Kushina looked like she was half a second away from jumping down into the arena. Now that he was out of the genjutsu, Kakashi could hear her shouting on the top of her lungs.

"Finally you realized that it was a genjutsu! What took you so long? Don't just stand there and stare at me young man! Win this fight and make us proud!" Everyone around Kushina was cringing away from her except for Minato, who was looking at her with fondness. Kakashi sighed and focused once again on his chakra. He finally had enough.

"How did you figure out it was a genjutsu?" Shian said furiously. Kakashi smirked and did the hand seals, using blood from the wound on his hand from the shuriken. ' _Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, and...Ram_!' He slammed his hand on the ground.

"Because Minato-sensei and Kushina-san would never ostracize someone just because of one mistake!" Kakashi shouted. "Summoning Jutsu!"

A cloud of smoke bigger than Kakashi appeared, and when the smoke cleared...nine dogs could be seen. Well, more like eight puppies that were running around playfully and one full grown greyhound (The dog from Chapter 1). The biggest puppy stood no taller than a foot, and the smallest one was about as big as Kakashi's hand. The puppies were about a month old, and the only full-grown dog, Keiko, was ten. The arena went dead silent, and in front of Kakashi Shian was staring with his mouth open in surprise.

"Hey everyone! Focus!" Kakashi snapped. All of the ninkens' ears perked up, and they started running towards Kakashi, bumping into and tripping over each other in their haste. Kakashi sighed inwardly and hoped it wasn't a bad idea for him to summon them. Keiko followed behind them, expression amused.

"Hi Boss!" The small brown pug, Pakkun, greeted Kakashi cheerfully, wagging his tail.

"Is this a joke?" Shian said, eye twitching in annoyance. Kakashi ignored him for now.

"Listen guys, I need you to help me out. See that person over there? I need to defeat him." His ninkens looked at him confusingly. Kakashi groaned in frustration, he looked to Keiko for help, but all Keiko did was sit there. Kakashi tried again and pointed at Shian.

"Bad person! Bite!" The ninkens finally understood and turned towards Shian, growling. Kakashi grinned. "Good dogs. Use the move we practiced on." Kakashi touched his index finger to his thumb, making a circle. It was a signal for them to attack in circle formation. Sakumo had told Kakashi that dogs communicated with body language more than oral language.

His ninkens barked and separated into two groups, four on the left and four on the right with Keiko in the middle, and started running towards Shian, with Kakashi following close behind. They could go very quick, surprisingly, considering they were only puppies. Shian took out a kunai, and Kakashi mentally prepared himself to send a ninken back if they were in danger of being hurt.

The ninken surrounded Shian, growling angrily. Keiko barked, and all of the ninken sprang at Shian, their tiny teeth gleaming. Shian tried to kick the biggest puppy, Bull, away, but two other dogs grabbed onto his leg. Two had grabbed onto his other leg, and another two were on his right arm. Pakkun and Bull got Shian's left wrist, and Keiko was on Shian's back, grabbing onto his shirt collar.

Shian struggled, but the combined weight of the ninken made it hard for him to move. His green eyes narrowed at Kakashi. Kakashi couldn't help but smirk slightly in pride. Getting the puppies to do that had taken almost the entire two weeks, and would have taken longer if Sakumo and Keiko had not helped him.

* * *

" _Summoning Jutsu!" Kakashi shouted again, but nothing happened like the last ten times he tried. He sat down, panting hard, the wound on his thumb throbbing. "This is impossible!"_

" _No it isn't. Come on Kakashi, you can do it. You've seen me summon ninken all the time." Sakumo said patiently._

" _Can you show me?" Kakashi said. "Maybe that will help me."_

 _Sakumo sighed and nodded. He bit his thumb and went through the hand signs._

" _Summoning Jutsu!" A big greyhound appeared. Keiko tilted her head questionly, silently asking why Sakumo had summoned her. Her gaze drifted to Kakashi's cut thumb and the summoning scroll beside him._

" _You're trying to teach Kakashi how to summon? You know there's only puppies left…" Keiko's voice trailed off, and her tail drooped with sadness._

" _Why are there only puppies left?" Kakashi asked. A shadow seemed to pass over Sakumo's face._

" _They-" Keiko began to answer, but Sakumo cut her off._

" _They died." Sakumo said flatly. "I was foolish, and they saved me, like they always did...except that was the last time they ever did. Loyal until their deaths, dying for someone who would never deserve it. Keiko's the only one left."_

 _Kakashi fell silent, finally understanding why his father treated Keiko so well, but almost never let her fight in battles. Keiko growled angrily at Sakumo._

" _I was only a pup then, but even I knew that we would all give up our lives in a heartbeat for you, and I myself was ready too! Besides, you couldn't die and leave Sanika alone!"_

 _Sakumo flinched slightly at Keiko's last sentence. Back then Kakashi thought it was because Keiko had mentioned his mother's name, but he couldn't have been more wrong._

" _Well, Kakashi, keep trying. I'm afraid I can't help you any longer, I need to do some...important things." Sakumo said. He ruffled Kakashi's hair, patted Keiko on the head, and left towards the house._

 _Keiko sighed and turned to Kakashi._

" _Try again."_

 _After a few days, Kakashi was finally able to summon more than just some dog hair. After the usual puff of smoke, a small brown pug could be seen. He sniffed around and ran to Keiko, but Keiko nudged him towards Kakashi._

" _His name is Pakkun."_

 _Pakkun ambled over to Kakashi and crawled into his lap. Kakashi smiled softly as he gently stroked the little puppy._

" _Hello, Pakkun."_

 _After that, summoning became much more easier. Soon, Kakashi was able to summon seven more puppies: Bull, a giant but kind bulldog; Urushi, the wildest of the pack; Shiba, slightly crazy looking but he possessed a loyal heart; Bisuke, small like Pakkun but was more fierce than most dogs twice his size and age; Akino, who hated bright light with a passion; Uhei, a reckless greyhound who loved to do dangerous stunts like climbing high rocks; and lastly, Guruko, who seemed to hate cats from when he was born even though he sort of looks like one._

 _Kakashi liked all of his ninken. However, when it came to training them, it was just one headache after another, and full of frustration._

" _Uhei, get off that chair! Guruko, focus! Urushi, stop fighting with Shiba! Pakkun, stop sleeping! Akino, get out from the house! Bisuke, get over-...are you peeing on that chair?" Bisuke glanced over, paused for a second, then continued peeing._

" _This is not working…" Kakashi sighed as he surveyed the scene. Only Bull was behaving, lying down beside him, though it was probably more because Bull felt sorry for him, or maybe he was just tired. It wasn't as if they didn't know what they were supposed to do. All of the ninken possessed an above average intelligence, and already knew all of the basic commands. The only problem was that they didn't want to listen._

" _Of course it's not working. In a pack, the only one who everyone else will listen to is the leader, the Alpha. And let's face it, you're not really behaving like an Alpha here." Keiko trotted up beside him. Kakashi glared at her, but grudgingly admitted that she had a point._

" _So what do I do?" Kakashi asked._

" _Well, act like you're the boss. When you walk, walk in front of them. Don't let them jump on your bed without your permission. Don't let them eat without your permission. That kind of stuff," answered Keiko. Kakashi raised an eyebrow dubiously, but nodded, deciding to try. When he later told Sakumo, his father frowned. However, when Kakashi asked him what was the matter, all he said was, "well, better give Keiko's idea a try. Maybe you'll learn something through it"_

 _For the next few days, Kakashi tried Keiko's methods. However, they didn't work as well as Kakashi had hoped. On walks, Kakashi could barely keep up with his ninken (puppies walk surprisingly fast), for him to walk in front of them would require the ninkens to slow down, which would take a leash. However, all of the ninken growled simultaneously at the leash in Kakashi's hand and tried to tear it to pieces. And when Kakashi tried to make them not get on his bed, where they usually sleep, without his permission, they just ignored him and all got on anyway. When Kakashi tried to carry them off one by one, they growled and bared their teeth at him. Eventually Kakashi gave up._

 _As for trying to not make them eat without his permission...well, let's just say it was a total failure. Normally, Kakashi can't even get the bag that contained dog food down without the ninken charging towards him and just eating right out of the bag. When he tried shutting the ninken out in the yard and not letting them in to eat until they sat and waited, they somehow managed to break a window, crawl in, and reach the food._

 _Kakashi went to Sakumo for help, but all he did was say to him distractingly, "you'll figure out why eventually," and go back to whatever he was doing. So he searched around for Keiko, and finally found her in the backyard, stretched out in the sun._

 _Kakashi sat down next to her, hugging his knees, absently petting Keiko's soft fur. Keiko acknowledged him with a flick of her ear, and resumed sunning herself._

" _Keiko?"_

" _Hmm?"_

" _How did father become the Alpha for your pack?" Kakashi asked. Keiko opened her eyes and looked at Kakashi._

" _I see you're having trouble?" Keiko said amusingly. She pondered in silence for a while, seemingly trying to remember something._

" _Well...I actually don't know. At first we started off like you right now. Whenever Sakumo tried to make me listen to him, I never wanted to. It wasn't as if we hated each other, but we weren't nearly as close as we are today, not even close. Just somewhere along the line, Sakumo just...became our Alpha. I forgot when it happened, or what made it happen, just how after that, how natural it felt listening to him, and how much I trusted him."_

 _Kakashi thought about this for a while before standing up. He said a quick "thank you" to Keiko before running towards where his ninken were._

" _Hey guys, would you like to go on a walk?" Kakashi asked, opening the fence. All of the ninken perked up their ears and ran outside. They went, as they always did, to a training ground that was ten minutes from the Hatake Compound. Kakashi sat down on a rock as the ninkens spread out, sniffing and pawing the ground. Pakkun walked towards him and laid down in his lap, nudging Kakashi's hand for Kakashi to pet him. Smiling slightly, Kakashi complied with his request. Kakashi lied down on the sun warmed rock, trying to think of what made Keiko suddenly trust Sakumo._

 _However, after only several minutes, clouds began to cover the sky, causing everything to darken and cool down. Kakashi frowned up at the sky._

" _Hey, Pakkun, Bull, everyone, I think it's going to rain soon, we should head back." Kakashi stood up and gently pushed Pakkun off him. All of the ninken were learning words fast, and Kakashi knew that they understood what "rain" and "head back" meant. However, none of the puppies paid any attention Kakashi, except for Pakkun, who gave him a disgruntled look._

" _Seriously, it looks like it's going to rain soon. If we stay out here you all might get a fever." Kakashi tried again._

" _Want to play, Kashi (Kakashi, except they're still learning how to speak so they can't say three syllable words yet). No go home. Time no up." Shiba said, scowling at Kakashi. Usually they would still be allowed to play for twenty more minutes before Sakumo and Keiko made them go home._

" _No Shiba. Does everyone want to get sick?" Kakashi said impatiently. Everyone ignored him again. Kakashi tried pushing them one by one, but they stubbornly stood their ground. They were also getting too big to carry all at once, and if Kakashi carried them home one at a time, it would take too long, and it looked like rain was about to come soon. Very soon. All of his ninken were still puppies, and they didn't have very thick coats yet. It was already pretty chilly, with the wind making it colder. If they were exposed to the rain, it could very well cause them to have a fever or even hypothermia, which could kill them._

' _What do I do?' Kakashi thought desperately. He wish he could summon Keiko, except she refused to be summoned by anyone except for Sakumo since she was a young puppy. Usually the ninken could be summoned by anyone who signed the summoning contract, but they could choose to not be part of the contract, which Keiko had chose to do. That way the summoner would have to sign a completely separate contract in order to summon Keiko, which only Sakumo had. If Kakashi ran home, he might not make it in time before it started to rain. To make matters worst, the training ground they were on was seldom used by anyone, and there weren't any other people around. Also, there were no trees or bushes on the training ground._

' _Wait! I can return them to their world (wherever they go when not summoned)!' Kakashi sighed in relief. He held up his hands, 'what sign was it again? Dog? Tiger? No, I couldn't have forgotten it already! I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have forgotten something so important.' Kakashi searched his memory for the time when Sakumo taught him how to summon. 'Oh...wait,' Kakashi thought with a sinking heart. 'To prevent me from returning them to their world because father wanted me to bond with them, father never...taught me how to...desummon them…well, there goes that idea.'_

" _Come on! We really have to start going home-" Kakashi paused as he felt a drop of water land on his hand. Another drop joined it. He looked at the ground, which was slowly darkening as more and more drops of water fell on it. Kakashi felt his heart sink in dread._

 _The rain slowly got bigger and bigger, until finally all of the ninken noticed and ran to Kakashi._

" _Go home! Go home!" Guruko barked at Kakashi. The other ninken started barking as well, and Kakashi quickly ushered them towards home. However, Kakashi noticed Pakkun walk forward a step, then stop and curl up, shivering violently. Kakashi picked Pakkun up and held him to his chest, hoping to keep him warm._

 _By now the rain had turned from a drizzle to a downpour. All of the ninken were quickly soaked, and started also shivering like Pakkun. They all huddled to Kakashi for warmth, and Kakashi tried his best to warm them all up._

' _There isn't any cover around here. Maybe I could dig a shallow cave for them? No, that would take too long, and the rain water would just go into the cave. What to do...what to do…' An idea suddenly popped into Kakashi's head. Kakashi quickly crouched down, so that his hands and knees were touching the ground._

" _Hey guys, get under me. You'll be out of the rain, and I'll be able to keep you warm." Kakashi said. The ninken were only too happy to oblige, huddling in the space between Kakashi's stomach and the ground. Kakashi slowly lowered himself so that he was lying on top of them, yet not squashing. Soon, Kakashi felt the ninkens stop shivering in cold._

' _I just need to hold out for a little while. Soon Keiko will realize that it's raining and come meet us.' Kakashi thought. His clothes were already soaked, and he was already feeling numb. Kakashi hoped Keiko would hurry up._

 _However, when about five minutes passed and Keiko still didn't show up, Kakashi was starting to get worried. It should only take Keiko five minutes to get here, and when she was worried, Kakashi knew that Keiko was able to run really fast. So why wasn't she here yet? Maybe she went back to her world (wherever they go when not summoned)? No, these days Sakumo keep Keiko here all the time. Did Keiko not realize it was raining? But that was impossible. Even Kakashi could hear when it was raining inside his house. The walls were not exceptionally thick, so they could hear even the tiniest rustle of a mouse at night. Sakumo should be in his room, and Keiko would most likely be with him…'wait,' Kakashi realized with a start, 'father has seals in his room. And if I remember correctly, one of them, when activated, would make the room sound-proof…'_

 _It would take at least fifteen minutes for Keiko to go check if Kakashi had remembered to feed the puppies. And another five for her to get here. 'Twenty minutes! I don't know if I can last that long, but I have try.'_

" _We have to deal with this for a bit longer I'm afraid, everyone. You just stay there and try to stay warm. Here," Kakashi took off his scarf and tucked it under them, "that will probably help a little. Don't worry, none of you are getting sick, not on my watch!"_

 _The rain continued, the sky darkened to pitch black, and Kakashi continued to feel colder and colder. He sneezed, then shivered furiously. There didn't seem to be one place where Kakashi wasn't wet, except where the ninken were. Kakashi rubbed each of them frantically, trying to keep their fur warm through friction, while he silently counted the minutes that went by._

' _Hurry up, Keiko, father.'_

* * *

 _Pakkun nuzzled closer to Kakashi's scarf. Even though Kakashi kept most of the rain off him, he was still feeling colder than he ever did before. He could tell the other ninken felt the same._

 _Boom!_

 _Pakkun watched frightened as thunder roared around them, his ears ringing slightly because of the noise. He burrowed into Kakashi's shirt for comfort, and felt Kakashi pet him tenderly to soothe him. Lightning flashed, illuminating everything for a second, and Pakkun was able to see Kakashi's face clearly. His face was flushed, and he looked to be sweating, even though he was shivering with cold. Pakkun could feel Kakashi's arms trembling from having to support his weight for such a long time, and frequent coughs and sneezes raked his body._

" _You okay?" Pakkun said to Kakashi, concerned. The other ninken looked at Kakashi as well. Kakashi bent down his head and grinned at them._

" _Don't worry, I'll be fine." Kakashi quickly turned away to cough. "Are you guys okay? I'm afraid you'll have to have dinner a little late today."_

' _I'm not worried about that!' Pakkun thought. Even though he may not act like it, he had grown attached to Kakashi. Pakkun remembered guiltily that if only they had listened to Kakashi, they wouldn't be in this situation in the first place. At first Pakkun had looked down upon Kakashi. He was a Ninja Hound, and they expected him to listen to that kid who was barely six? However, now that Pakkun thought about it, Kakashi had always acted more mature than any six year old, and he had been nothing but patient with them. When Kakashi first summoned them, they weren't weaned yet, and had to be hand-fed one by one. It was a messy and time-consuming task, yet Kakashi did it everyday without complaint. In the middle of the night when Pakkun woke up and started whining because of nightmares, Kakashi would always wake up and stay with him until he fell asleep. And now, Kakashi was using his own body to shield them from the freezing rain, never even thinking about abandoning them and going home himself._

 _Even though dogs technically can't cry, Pakkun swore he could feel water in his eyes, though that might be from the rain._

 _Kakashi coughed again, breathing heavily. Pakkun whined worriedly, trying to think of anything,_ _ **anything**_ _, that he could do, when he heard the sound of running footsteps._

* * *

" _Kakashi!" Sakumo yelled, coming closer by the second. Kakashi glanced to the side. Keiko and Sakumo were running towards them, heedless of the rain that soaked them to their bones._

" _Father...Keiko…" Kakashi managed to rasp out before feeling his arms give out. He rolled to the side to avoid falling on his ninken. The rain felt oddly refreshing and cool on his feverish face. Kakashi was content to just lie there forever, however, the rain was quickly blocked by his father._

 _Sakumo put his hand on Kakashi's forehead. "You're burning up, Kakashi." Sakumo said anxiously. "Come on, let's get home."_

" _Don't...want...to." Kakashi murmured._

" _We have to. Don't want the puppies to get a fever too, and you have a high fever. Come on." Sakumo bent down and picked up Kakashi._

" _Wait...are they okay?" Kakashi tried to turn his head to see the ninkens._

" _They're fine, better than you are right now." Sakumo replied. "Don't worry, we're going home right now."_

 _Kakashi must have fell asleep sometime during the way home, for the next time he opened his eyes, it was morning, and faint sunshine was slipping through the shutters in his window onto his bed. Kakashi groaned, his throat felt really dry, and he was shivering, even though he already had a ton of blankets on top of him._

" _Wa..ter." Kakashi said. He heard someone clamber onto his bedside table clumsily, and the clink of something hard hitting against glass. Then something was on his bed and walking towards him. It stopped right in front of his head, and Kakashi felt something nudge his head._

" _Wha-?" Kakashi opened his eyes. In front of him was Pakkun, who had a glass of water clamped in his jaws, and his head for tilted sideways so to not spill the water. On the floor next to his bed, the other seven puppies were sitting up, looking at him intently._

 _Kakashi tried raising his hand, but it felt like it weighed a ton. Pakkun stepped on his hand and nudged his mouth. Kakashi took the hint and opened his mouth, and almost choked when Pakkun poured a lot of water in. He managed to swallow, but still ended up with his face soaking wet. Pakkun whined in apology and moved to lick his face dry._

" _Hey guys. Where's father and Keiko?"_

" _Kumo (Sakumo, except they're still learning how to speak so they can't say three syllable words yet) and Keiko in yard." Uhei piped up from his place on the floor._

" _I see-" Kakashi shivered again. He curled into a ball. "I'm so cold."_

 _Pakkun tilted his head, then seemed to have an idea. "Come on bed?"_

 _Kakashi's eyes widened. Since when did they ask for permission to get on his bed? He nodded, still surprised. All of the ninken broke into wide grins and bounded up, lying around Kakashi. Pakkun claimed the place on his chest._

" _Since when did...you guys ask for...permission?" Kakashi said. Pakkun opened one eye and stretched._

" _Since you become boss."_

 _Soon, Kakashi found that he wasn't cold anymore._

* * *

" _Keiko?" Sakumo said to his one remaining ninken as he set a cool cloth on Kakashi's forehead._

" _What?" Keiko answered._

" _I would like Kakashi to be able to summon you." Kakashi looked at his father in shock, but Sakumo continued. "I don't want a situation like that happening again."_

 _Keiko nodded. "I understand, that makes sense. I guess I'll tolerate you, kid." She said to Kakashi._

 _Sakumo took out the scroll and set it on the bedside table. "Sign it when you can sit up. You should be able to summon her at the same time with the puppies. Now listen closely Kakashi, you're going to go on missions outside of the village soon. Whenever you're in danger, or even have slight suspicious that the mission might be dangerous, summon Keiko. I know that Minato will try his best to keep you safe, but I'll relax more if Keiko is there."_

" _Got it, father."_

" _Good." Sakumo then smiled, something that was hard to see these days, and ruffled Kakashi's hair. "Seems like you finally got your dogs to recognize you as their Alpha."_

" _But I don't want them to obey my every command." Kakashi said worriedly. "I just want them to listen, and not ignore me everytime."_

 _Sakumo snorted. "Don't worry, they'll never obey your every command. Sometimes I wish they did…"_

 _Bisuke clambered over to Kakashi's head and licked his face. "Kashi, feel better?"_

 _Kakashi smiled. "Yes, a lot better."_

 _Kakashi was finally able to train his ninken after he recovered from his fever. This time, they actually listened to him and managed to perfect one formation before the time ran out. During the training, Kakashi realized that his ninken listened to him not out of obedience and fear, but out of respect and love, which would only get stronger as time went on._

* * *

The sky, already covered with rain clouds, began to rain, which was getting bigger by the second. Kakashi hair slowly got wet and drooped over his headband. Kakashi shook his head, he needed to end this quickly. At the rate the rain was getting bigger, soon visibility would decrease. He wasn't sure if his chakra sensing and stealth abilities could best Shian's, and since the rain would wash away Shian's smell, Kakashi would be at a disadvantage. He reached for a kunai, before remembering that Shian had stole his weapon pouch. All of the stray shurikens and kunais were scattered around the arena, but none close to him. Shian could break out of the ninken's hold any second now, so wasting no time, Kakashi ran forward and punched Shian as hard as he could on the temple hoping to knock him out. However, right before Kakashi's fist made contact with Shian, Shian was finally able to rip his collar out of Keiko's mouth. So instead of hitting Shian's temple like he intended to, Kakashi managed to hit a little below that, hitting his eyes instead.

Two small, almost invisible things fell out of Shian's eyes, and onto the muddy ground. Kakashi glanced at them curiously, they looked thin and flexible, with a slight greenish tinge to it. Before Kakashi could examine them further however, he heard Akino bark in surprise. He looked up just in time to see Shian throw Akino and Urushi, who were grabbing onto his left arm, off. And before any of the dogs could react, he grabbed Bull by his scruff, threw him towards Kakashi, who caught him by reflex. Catching Kakashi off guard, Shian slammed his fist on Kakashi's cheek, knocking him back several steps, making him almost slip on the wet ground. Keiko tried to bite his arm, but Shian reached back and smashed Pakkun into her, loosening Pakkun's grip and forcing Keiko to jump off to avoid a punch from his now free right hand. The remaining four dogs wisely jumped off before Shian came after them.

Kakashi put Bull down, his gaze never leaving Shian's brown eyes. _'Wait a minute, since when did Shian have brown eyes?'_ Kakashi looked again, there was no mistake, Shian's eyes, which had been green a minute before, were now a dark brown. _'So then those two things that fell before, they were green contact lenses?'_ Kakashi checked if he was under a genjutsu, but his chakra flow was normal, and saying "Release" or slicing another gash on his hand didn't work either.

"Shian, what happened to your eyes?" One of Shian's teammates yelled. "Since when were they brown?"

Kakashi frowned, something wasn't right here. What reason did Shian have for hiding his eye color his whole life? He wasn't the only one who reached this conclusion. Several ANBU landed around Shian, surrounding him.

"Genin," said an ANBU standing in front of Kakashi. "Stand back, don't interfere."

Kakashi nodded and stepped back, unsummoning his ninken except for Keiko, who ran to his side. Shian was trying to act casual, but his fingers, which were inching towards his kunai pouch, gave him away. Kakashi glanced at the sky, the rain was getting bigger. He could barely see the people in the stands now.

"Careful," one of the ANBU said to her teammates. "He has an unusually large chakra reserve, too large for a genin."

"Shian never had exceptionally large chakra reserves, his reserves were always average." Shian's sensei, who had also jumped down into the arena, added, her voice laced with suspicion. "You are not the Shian I know, _imposter!_ What did you do with him!"

"Stand down Jonin, we will handle this." An ANBU said. He turned to the fake Shian. "Surrender your weapons. You are under arrest of being suspected of impersonating Genin Shian Hanareru. Don't try to resist."

The fake Shian grabbed a kunai and held it in front of him. All of the ANBU tensed, preparing to fight. However, he did not immediately charge forward. Instead, he seemed to be muttering under his breath. Kakashi was only able to catch the sentence "you better help me right now, you beast, unless you want to get interrogated by the Leaf and extracted from me into another person."

Whatever answer the fake Shian got, it evidently pleased him, since he grinned in victory and closed his eyes. Bubbly orange chakra began to appear, and when he opened his eyes again, they were bright orange, and excluded a malice that made chills go down Kakashi's spine.

"He's a jinchuriki! Everyone back off!" An ANBU commanded. Kakashi quickly backed away, but managed only a few steps before he saw Minato and Kushina leap down beside him. Both Minato and Kushina had their gaze fixed on the jinchuriki, but while Minato's gaze was full of caution and alarm, Kushina's eyes had...pity in them, though Kakashi couldn't fathom why.

All the ANBU were now a good distance away from the fake Shian, expecting an attack. However, the fake Shian, with what seemed like a great amount of effort, turned to the entrance to the arena, and raced towards it. The ANBU nearest to it tried to stop him, but it was no use. The fake Shian crashed into the ANBU, knocking her back several feet, and kept on running, and was soon hidden by the rain.

* * *

"Apparently his name was Roshi, and he was the Four Tails Jinchuriki." Minato said to Kushina and Kakashi. Kakashi had unsummoned Keiko after she was sure he would be fine to check on the puppies. They were standing outside the Stage 3 arena, where just ten minutes ago, a jinchuriki belonging to the Rock Village had been.

"Did the ANBU catch him?" Kakashi asked.

"Unfortunately, no. The rain made it a lot harder. They lost track of him more than once, and when he crossed the border they had to stop."

"Sensei? What's a jinchuriki?" Kakashi had never heard of that word before, but he sensed it was something to be feared.

"A jinchuriki is someone who has a Tailed Beast sealed inside of them. There are nine tailed beasts. The One-Tailed Racoon, Two-Tailed Cat, Three-Tailed Turtle, Four-Tailed Ape, whose jinchuriki you saw today, Five-Tailed Horse, Six-Tailed Slug, Seven-Tailed Beetle, Eight-Tailed Bull, and the most powerful of all, the Nine-Tailed Fox," explained Minato. "If you ever meet one, run. Jinchurikis are extremely strong and if you fight one, you will most likely lose, badly."

"Does Konoha have a jinchuriki?" Questioned Kakashi again. He wanted to know as much as possible about the subject of Tailed Beasts and Jinchurikis. They sounded dangerous, and Kakashi didn't want to get caught unprepared.

"Well…" Minato began, but was cut off by Kushina, who had been uncharacteristically quiet throughout the whole conversation.

"I don't know, and that isn't something you should be wondering about, Kakashi. Besides, even if there were, it would most likely be classified. And none of us have high enough clearance for that." Kushina said quickly. "Anyway, congratulations on becoming chunin Kakashi."

Kakashi nodded in thanks. Stage 3 of the chunin exams were going to be continued after the ANBU had finished investigating the arena, but the Third Hokage had decided to promote Kakashi early, since he had exposed Roshi and showed enough skill and intelligence. Kakashi looked up and tried to gauge the time, though it was useless. The cloud had completely blocked the sun. However, the action caused Kakashi to miss Minato's suspicious glance at Kushina for the sudden topic change.

"I should be going home now, I can't wait to tell father the news. Goodbye, Minato-sensei, Kushina-san." Kakashi waved before turning and running home. As he leaped from roof to roof, Kakashi thought of the pride and happiness Sakumo would feel when Kakashi told him he had been promoted to chunin. Maybe it'll even encourage Sakumo to train Kakashi more. Ever since that mission, Sakumo had ceased to train Kakashi, except for teaching him to summon ninken. Kakashi still had a lot he wanted to learn from his father. Even the thunder and lightning that had started sometime didn't dampen his spirits, though he did get down from the rooftops.

As he ran home, Kakashi remembered something that had happened last night. He had awoken sometime in the night. After a while, Kakashi had nodded off and was drifting in and out of wakefulness when he dimly heard his door open. Kakashi had tried to open his eyes, but he only managed to opened his left eye a tiny bit. It was still enough for him to see a white haired figure who had entered the room. Kakashi was pretty sure it had been Sakumo. Sakumo had stood there for a long time, and right before he fell asleep, Kakashi thought he had heard his father say something softly, but he couldn't remember what.

' _I'll ask him when I get home,'_ thought Kakashi. _'It was probably just a dream anyway.'_ Kakashi squinted through the rain, trying to see where his house was. He looked around as he walked forward, and almost crashed into a gate. Kakashi knelt down and wiped some wet leaves off a sign on the gate. It said: The Hatake Compound.

Kakashi sighed in relief. He was finally home. He unlatched the gate and walked up to the door. Kakashi lifted a board that was on the porch and grabbed the key to the house. The key was hidden in a different place everyday to prevent someone from stealing it.

The house was eerily silent when Kakashi walked in. He took off his shoes and his soaking wet jacket and grabbed a towel hanging from a nearby rack. Sakumo had put it there so Kakashi wouldn't drip water everywhere whenever he came back from training on a rainy day. After drying himself, Kakashi hid his chunin vest and certificate behind his back as he walked towards his father's room, intending on surprising him. With barely hidden excitement, Kakashi stopped in front of Sakumo's room and knocked on the door. No one opened it. Kakashi knocked again, but the same happened. Kakashi rolled his eyes, no doubt his father was too absorbed in whatever he was doing to hear the knock, it wasn't like this was the first time it had happened. He reached up, grabbed ahold of the knob, and opened the door.

"Father?" The room was dark, and there was this strange smell. Kakashi wrinkled his nose and felt around for the light switch. He was sure it was somewhere over there, but he couldn't find it. "Father why is it so dark in here?"

Sakumo didn't answer. _'Maybe father isn't here. I'll go check in the kitchen.'_ Kakashi turned to leave when a flash of lightning suddenly illuminated the room. Kakashi froze, the chunin vest and certificate slipping from his fingers and falling to the floor, but Kakashi hardly noticed.

In the middle of the room, laid Kakashi's father, who was still, _too still_. However, it was something else that caught Kakashi's attention. It was the pool of red liquid around Sakumo's body, and the shining blade that was buried in Sakumo's abdomen.

Kakashi knew, without a doubt, that any hope of making his father train him was gone. Any hope of his father getting accepted again by the village was gone. Any hope that his father would be happy again was gone. That the jeers and insults had affected his father more than Kakashi had thought.

Kakashi fell to his knees as he suddenly remembered what Sakumo had said to him yesterday night.

"I'm so sorry, Kakashi. But remember this, I love you, with all my heart."


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

 **Betaed by The3vilFighter**

* * *

Kakashi took a trembling breath as tears came to his eyes, blurring his vision of his father lying dead right in front of him.

 _Father?_

 _Hmm?_

 _Do you think I can be a great ninja like you?_

A sob built up in his throat as Kakashi heard a conversation he and Sakumo had before Kakashi had started the Academy resound in his mind.

" _Of course. As long as you work hard and listen to your teacher, you'll be a great ninja in no time, even better than me."_

" _Even better than you?"_

" _Yes, I'm sure you'll surpass me one day."_

A tear slid down Kakashi's cheek and fell onto the floor. Hesitantly, Kakashi crawled forward and gently turned his father so that they were face to face. He realized that his father had died with his eyes open.

" _Father? I want to become the Hokage! That way I can prove to everyone that I'm the best ninja in the whole village!"_

" _I'm sure you will son."_

" _Will you promise to be there when I become the Hokage?"_

Kakashi found that he suddenly didn't care.

" _I promise."_

Kakashi balled his hands into fists.

' _You liar.'_

* * *

Minato leaned against a wall inside his apartment, staring at the pouring rain outside. Rain always made him feel so gloomy and tired, he liked sunny days much better. Minato yawned, rubbing his eyes drowsily. The sound of the rain slowly lured him to sleep, and he was dozing off lightly when a flash of lightning and the thunder following soon after startled him out of his nap.

' _It's raining pretty hard outside,'_ thought Minato. _'I wonder if Kakashi made it home.'_ Now fully awake, Minato paced around in his apartment, torn between whether or not he should go check on Kakashi. On one hand Kakashi might take it as an insult that Minato thought him to be too young to even go home by himself. But on the other hand, Kakashi might be outside in the rain _right now_. With an image of Kakashi shivering in the rain stuck in his mind, Minato stretched out his senses and located the Flying Thunder God mark that was closest to the Hatake Compound, about ten minutes away. With a burst of chakra, Minato appeared next to a rock under the pouring rain.

Minato wiped off water in his eyes and squinted in front of him. He vaguely remembered that the street leading to the Hatake Compound had a small statue of a lion next to it. Minato's eyes found a small dark shape in the rain and walked towards it, almost bumping into it when water dripped from his hair into his eyes. He squatted down, the snarling mouth and mane around its head told Minato that it was the statue he was looking for. Minato stepped onto the street and walked to his student's house.

Finally, after a brutal ten minutes full of wet and cold rain soaking Minato from head to toe, he arrived at the gate. Minato shivered and hurried up the front steps to knock on the door. After making sure Kakashi was home, he was going to take a nice, long, hot bath. Minato shook water from his hair and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Frowning, Minato knocked on the door again, louder this time. After a few more minutes passed with no sign of anyone coming to open the door, Minato tried turning the door handle. It was open, Kakashi must have forgotten to lock it in his haste to show his father that he became a chunin. Hoping that Sakumo and Kakashi would forgive his rudeness, Minato stepped over the threshold and into the house.

The first thing Minato noticed was that the house was quiet, too quiet. Knowing Kakashi, he would be telling Sakumo about Stage 3 of the chunin exams and every little detail, yet Minato could hear nothing. Feeling slightly apprehensive, Minato peeked into the kitchen.

"Hello? Anyone home? Kakashi?" No one answered. Minato stretched out his chakra, trying to sense if anyone was in the house, and almost immediately sensed Kakashi's chakra in the room that was the farthest down the hall. He couldn't sense Sakumo's chakra though, maybe he was out?

"Hey, Kakashi? Sorry I let myself in, just wanted to make sure you made it home." Minato said as he walked towards where Kakashi was. Kakashi still didn't answer.

"Come on Kakashi, are you sad that your father isn't here? Maybe he had to do something. Kakashi! Don't just ignore me." Sighing, Minato stopped in front of the room Kakashi was in. Bracing himself for a moody Kakashi, Minato opened the door.

And was hit with the sickening metallic smell of blood.

"Kakashi?! Are you hur-" Minato's eyes fell on the still body in the middle of the room with a smaller form huddled beside it. His heart tightened. Minato approached the two figures, one of which would never move again. He laid a gentle hand on his student's shoulder, offering what comfort he could. He then turned his gaze to Sakumo, whom he had looked up to as a child.

' _May you rest in peace, Hatake-san. I don't know if you were trying to warn me during our last conversation, but I wish I had sensed what you were going to do. Don't worry though, I'll take care of Kakashi if that's the last thing I'll do. I swear this to you, Hatake-san. I owe this to you for protecting the village your whole life, then accepting all the blame and ridicule because of that mission.'_ Minato thought as he reached out his hand and closed Sakumo's eyes.

"S-sensei?" Kakashi looked at him, seemingly just realizing that he was there.

"Let's get out of here, Kakashi." Minato extended a hand towards Kakashi. Kakashi hesitated, looking at his father again, before wiping his tears away and grabbing Minato's hands, allowing himself to be pulled up.

Minato led Kakashi to a room on the other side of the house, as far away from Kakashi's father's study as possible. Halfway there, Kakashi stumbled and would have fallen down if Minato had not caught him in time. Minato picked Kakashi up, not missing the fact that for once Kakashi didn't protest being treated like a child. _'A child who just saw his father dead,'_ Minato thought. He placed Kakashi onto chair nearby.

"I'm going to call for help, okay Kakashi? Stay there." Minato ran through a few handsigns and summoned a small, brightly colored red toad.

"Minato! Long time no see." The toad said cheerfully.

"Sorry, but now's not the time. Hurry and tell Hokage-sama that Sakumo Hatake has been found dead in his house, cause of death is most likely suicide," said Minato. The toad, no longer cheerful, glanced at Kakashi before nodding and began to hop away.

"No time for that, hop on my hand." As soon as the toad touched Minato's hand, Minato teleported the toad to the Flying Thunder God tag he had placed in the Hokage's office.

That taken care of, Minato picked Kakashi up again and placed him on his lap as he sat down on the chair. He noticed that Kakashi was trembling as he put his arm around him in a hug.

"Sensei, how could he do this?"

"Shh, calm down Kakashi. I don't know. Just don't focus too much on it for now." Minato soothed as he ruffled Kakashi's hair.

"But father, he left me…all alone." Tears appeared in Kakashi's eyes. "I hate him! He left me and I hate him!" Kakashi's voice broke off as he starting crying, quietly at first then gradually becoming louder.

Minato wasn't sure what to do. He wasn't sure if there was anything he _could_ do except turn Kakashi around and let him cry into his shoulder.

Outside thunder boomed and lightning flashed, but inside a grieving child sobbed into his sensei, whose heart was slowly breaking as he futilely tried to comfort his student.

Then, the Third Hokage and ANBU arrived, soaked and apprehensive of what awaited them.

* * *

By tomorrow, news of Sakumo Hatake, the Legendary White Fang of the Leaf's disgraceful death had spread throughout Konoha. It seemed that everyone knew what had happened, though there were many rumors that perhaps someone had snuck in and killed him, or even more outrageously so, maybe his own genius son, Kakashi, who was already a chunin at age 6, had murdered him to clear erase the dishonor from his clan.

However, Kakashi did not know anything of that, yet. Currently, he was huddled under a tree, in a hidden meadow near the Academy. He, Obito, and Rin had accidentally found that place about two years ago. Kakashi had jokingly pushed Obito, who went stumbling back into a bush, but instead of hitting the bush with a lot of painful pokes from branches, he had disappeared. They had found out that there was a hole in the bush, barely large enough for an adult to squeeze through, that was hidden by some tall grass growing in front of it. They had crawled through, and found a beautiful meadow with a tiny spring. Since then it had been their hiding spot, their meeting place, and their sanctuary.

' _He left me. Father abandoned me.'_ Kakashi thought numbly. _'He lied to me.'_ His heart ached. It had been aching since yesterday night, when he had summoned Keiko and told her about what happened. She had howled the most mournful howl Kakashi had ever heard, and had laid next to Sakumo, snapping at everyone who came near, even Kakashi. It was only when dawn came that Keiko stood and licked Sakumo lovingly, one last time. She nuzzled Kakashi to make sure he was okay, then had returned to her dimension, most likely to tell the puppies, and to grieve alone. Kakashi didn't want to think about how painful it would be for Keiko to tell them, and to explain to them what death was.

Kakashi took a deep breath. If only Sakumo hadn't taken that mission, no, if only he hadn't chosen his teammate over the mission, then this wouldn't have happened! Back then Kakashi had been certain that he was right, and that everyone else was wrong, but was it the other way around? Was he the one who was blind? Sakumo's choice had allowed Norio to live, but Hanami, and now Sakumo, was dead, and had allowed the war to continue, leaving many people full of grief and regret. It had hurt more people that it had helped.

' _I was wrong. The Shinobi Rules are there for a reason, father should have listened to them. That's what made him a failure.'_ Kakashi's fist clenched. _'I won't make that same mistake. The mission comes first, what I think doesn't matter. Even if I have to abandon my comrades, I will complete the mission. Unlike father, I will not be a failure. I won't be scum!'_

"There he is! I told you he would be here Rin! Hey, Kakashi!" Kakashi looked up in surprise to see Obito crawling through the gap in the bush, Rin behind him.

"Obito? Rin?"

"I'd thought we would find you here." Obito answered as he sat down beside Kakashi. Rin sat down on Kakashi's other side.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at the Academy?" Kakashi asked. He was always glad for Obito and Rin's company, but today he felt like being alone.

"Well…" Obito started sheepishly. "We kind of skipped school."

"Our sensei's probably still looking for us." Rin added.

"What? I can understand why Obito did, but you Rin?" Kakashi had never seen Rin miss a day in the Academy. Out of all of them, Rin was the one who always followed the Academy rules and never did anything to annoy the teacher.

Rin smiled softly at Kakashi's question, but then her smile slipped off her face. "We heard about what happened to your father, Kakashi. We came to see if you were okay."

Kakashi froze. He took a deep breath, _'Shinobi rule #25, Kakashi. Don't lose it now.'_

"I'm fine. You two shouldn't skip school just because of that. Besides, it's against the rules to not attend the Academy without an excuse, you should go back." Kakashi said, making his voice as emotionless as possible.

Obito frowned. "Since when did you care so much about the rules, Kakashi? And of course we would skip the Academy for this."

"Yeah, we're friends, we're supposed to be there for each other." Rin said. "Are you okay? You're never like this."

"I'm _fine_!" Kakashi said impatiently, then mentally reminded himself of Rule 25. "I'm fine. The rules are more important than being there for your friend, you should go back to the Academy."

"Bu-" Rin started.

"Go! Leave me alone! Those who don't follow the rules are trash!" Kakashi stood up and backed away from them, ignoring Rin flinching back, hurt filling her eyes.

"Kakashi, what did you do that for?!" Obito laid a hand on Rin's shoulder. "Rin didn't do anything to you!"

"It's fine Obito." Rin murmured, but Obito wasn't done yet. He stood up and walked forward until he was face to face with Kakashi.

"And what do you mean that those who don't follow the rules are trash?! Some rules are meant to be broken! Like skipping a day at the Academy to comfort your friend who's father just died!" Obito shouted angrily at Kakashi.

"Rules are there for a reason. Keep going like this and you'll end of just like him, a failure!" Kakashi replied.

"Sakumo-san was not a failure." Rin stood as well, standing beside Obito. "Are you calling your own father trash?"

"Yes, he was trash." Kakashi answered. "He chose his comrades over his mission, and look how that turned out."

"Kakashi, you-" Rin started. Kakashi turned his head to glare at her, so he wasn't able to see the fist coming straight towards him. Kakashi stumbled back, but Obito grabbed his collar and jerked him up.

"Are you saying that choosing the mission over your comrades, your _friends_ , is the right thing to do?" Obito growled furiously.

"It is. Shinobi rule number 4, the mission must always come first. Or else you're nothing but scum." Kakashi said.

"Listen Kakashi," Obito's hand clenched tighter around Kakashi's collar. "I believe the White Fang was a true hero. True heros aren't the ones who follow every single one of the rules blindly, they are the ones who go against them, the ones who do anything to save their comrades! You may be right, those who don't follow the rules are scum. However, those who don't care about their comrades, are worse than scum!"

Kakashi's eyes widened in surprise at Obito's words. A dim memory surfaced in his mind.

" _Remember Kakashi, in order to be a great ninja, you must also be a great person." His father said. Upon seeing Kakashi's confused look, he chuckled and elaborated._

" _Being skilled will cause others to acknowledge your strength, but only by being kind and integrous will people respect you. Take Madara Uchiha for example. They say he was one of the strongest ninja in the world, second to only the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju. Tons of people respected him. But then he became evil and twisted, seeking only his own goals, not caring about others, and people's respect for him disappeared."_

" _But I thought they did because he abandoned the village?"_

" _And what caused him to abandon the village? To pursue his own goals. If you ever face a choice, Kakashi, to either be a strong ninja or a great person, I would want you to choose being a great person over being strong. For if you lose your humanity, you are nothing but a tool to the village, and you cease to be a human."_

Kakashi's father's words echoed in his mind, along with Obito's. Obito had never met Sakumo, but Kakashi knew that if they had, they would have gotten along really well.

"But, father disregarded the rules, and the village hated him. And more people were hurt because of him." Kakashi said, still torn between two sides: follow the rules, or follow your heart.

"If he hadn't disregarded the rules, if everyone followed the rules, what would have happened? People would be sacrificed left and right for the sake of the _mission_ ," Obito spat the word out like it was a curse. "Konoha would be alright, but everyone would be mindless tools! There wouldn't be anything called happiness or love, there wouldn't be anything except the mission. Either way people are going to die, but that's inevitable, and I'd rather be in a Konoha where people can still be happy than a Konoha where everyone is nothing but tools!" Obito was breathing hard by the end of his speech. He let go of Kakashi's collar, hand falling away.

"Besides, my parents died because of that. Because their teammates abandoned them in order to complete the mission. They were left facing twenty Cloud shinobi alone, while their teammates ran out of there to bring the information back. Because of that...they never came home." Obito said, staring at the ground, tears gathering at the corner of his eyes.

"Obito…" Rin took Obito's hand, then threw herself forward to hug Obito tightly.

"Rin?" Obito asked, surprised.

"Why did you never tell us? Have you been carrying that in your heart all this time?! You idiot!" Rin admonished.

"Sorry I didn't tell you guys." Obito apologized, then he raised his eyes up to look at Kakashi, who turned his gaze away, unable to meet Obito's eyes.

"I should be the one who was sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. I was being selfish, I didn't care about you guys." Kakashi muttered. "I don't think I really thought about...about what it meant...that following the rules would basically be saying that I would gladly abandon you for the mission." Shame filled Kakashi. Obito and Rin would have never thought the way he did, they never even thought for a single second about betraying him for the mission, yet he…

A hand grabbed his, and Kakashi felt an arm get slung across his shoulder. Obito grinned at him, and Rin smiled gently.

"That's what friends are for, to give you a wake up slap when you need it. Sorry about the punch though." Obito said.

"I think you might have a bruise Kakashi! Remember to ice it when you get home, and don't poke it!" Rin chastised him as she examined the injury.

"Yes, I got it Rin." Kakashi chuckled, the first time he had laughed since yesterday. Suddenly, Kakashi realized that the ache in his heart was gone.

"Kakashi." Obito said, suddenly serious. "Are you sure you're alright?" Even though he didn't elaborate, Kakashi knew he was talking about his father's death.

"I…" Kakashi hesitated, still unsure how he felt about it.

"You know he loved you, Kakashi. Sakumo-san isn't the type of person to abandon you, he must have had his reasons," said Rin.

"I know. I'll be fine." Kakashi answered honestly. He was still hurting, but it was lessening by the second.

"Hey, Rin, Obito. Can I ask you guys a favor? They're not going to give father a grave, I heard a couple of people talking about it yesterday night. Can you-"

"Course we'll help you make him a grave! Who do you think we are?" Obito interrupted cheerfully.

"We can drop by the Yamanaka flower shop to get some flowers! Where should we put the grave though?" Rin asked.

Kakashi smiled. "Right here."

Obito and Rin nodded in vicious agreement. "That's perfect," said Rin.

"Race you to the flower shop! First one there has the best chance of being Hokage!" Obito shouted, already running.

"Cheater!" Rin said while laughing at Obito's antics.

"You know, I don't want to be Hokage anymore." Kakashi added almost casually. Rin glanced at him in surprise and Obito stopped dead and spun around.

"What?! Why?!" Obito yelled, his arms waving around. "You're my rival! We're supposed to see who could become Hokage first!"

"I thought Gai was Kakashi's rival?" Rin questioned.

"No, I am! And answer me Kakashi, why?!"

"I just don't feel like it anymore." Kakashi replied. _'Because I don't want father to be a liar,'_ though Kakashi mentally. Obito and Rin fell silent. Feeling the moody atmosphere coming back, Kakashi grinned and suddenly started running. "Doesn't mean I still can't beat you two easily though."

"Gah! Come back here Kakashi you cheater!" Obito screamed as he started sprinting as well. Rin giggled and followed. Kakashi scrambled through the hole and quickly laid a trip wire trap for Obito. Chuckling gleefully, he ran on.

After about five seconds, he heard a scream of surprise behind him.

"Kakashi! You're doomed!"

"Bye Obito."

"Rin! Wait a second, help me!"

* * *

Hidden in the leaves on a tree in the meadow, Minato watched the three friends as they ran away. He smiled.

"Looks like Kakashi's going to be okay. I should really thank Obito and Rin someday."

Minato took out a mission scroll from his pocket. It was a C-Rank retrieval mission. They had to go to Land of Waves where they would collect a scroll from another team. It should be easy enough.

"Wonder how excited Kakashi's going to be, finally able to go to the Land of Waves." Minato chuckled as he pocketed the scroll again and teleported to Kakashi's new apartment, dropping the scroll on Kakashi's bed with a note to meet him tomorrow at seven. He had moved out of the Hatake Compound, a decision Minato wholeheartedly agreed with, but went and rented an apartment, a decision that Minato wasn't happy about. He had offered for Kakashi to live in his apartment, but Kakashi had refused. It was Kakashi's choice, but it didn't mean Minato had to be happy about the idea of a six year old child living alone.

Well, nothing he can do about it if Kakashi didn't want to. Right now he had a mission to prepare for.


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

 **Betaed by The3vilFighter**

* * *

Half an hour into the mission, and Kakashi was already bored. He wasn't a talkative person by nature, and during missions Minato wasn't either, so they ran in complete silence except for the occasional thump as they leaped off one tree branch to another. There just wasn't much to see, except for the endless trees. Minato had assured him that there would be plenty to see when they reached the Land of Waves, but that was another day away.

Kakashi glanced at Minato, who was busy scanning their surroundings for any danger. For the tenth time.

"Sensei?"

"Hmm?" Minato replied, slightly distracted. "Where are we going to meet the team that had the scroll? You never told me."

"I didn't? We're meeting them in an abandoned underground storage bunker near the edge of the Land of Waves. We just go in, get the scroll, and run back home. The whole mission should only take two days." Minato answered.

They ran on, silence setting over them once more.

Kakashi gave the trees an annoyed glare.

"Are all missions this boring?" Kakashi asked when he couldn't take it anymore.

"You're bored?" Minato said in surprise. "Well, I suppose it can be a little boring. Hmm…" Minato pulled out several smoke bombs. "Let's play a game then."

Kakashi stared at the smoke bombs with slight apprehension.

"Your goal is to not get hit. I'll give you a five second head start." Minato winked at Kakashi and slowed slightly.

"Actually, I think I'm not bored anymore-"

"Five...Four...Three…"

Scowling at his evil teacher, Kakashi ran.

* * *

They arrived in the Land of Waves the next morning, after an uncomfortable night in a tent. Kakashi was still coughing from the smoke, but the sight he saw was more than enough to distract him.

The early morning sunlight made the lake before them shimmer like a million diamonds. The small amount of mist that still lingered gave everything a mysterious air. Kakashi had to admit that it was...beautiful.

"Beautiful, right?" Minato commented. "When I saw this my first time with Jiraiya-sensei and my teammates we were busy running from angry Mist ninjas that my teammate had insulted."

Minato looked at the sun. "We have some time, how would you like learning how to water walk?"

"Water walk?" Kakashi asked curiously. He already knew how to tree walk, but water walk was new to him. "How do you do it?"

"It's like tree walking, except harder. This lake is pretty calm, should be a good place to learn." Minato walked to the edge of the water and stepped onto the water. "It's quite easy once you get the hang of it."

Kakashi glanced dubiously at the water surface and took off the summoning scroll so it wouldn't get wet. He raised one foot, channeled chakra to the sole of it, and placed it on top of the water. He tried putting his whole weight onto it.

And got a feel of how cold the water was.

Kakashi yelped and took his foot out. Thankfully it wasn't deep, so only his ankle was wet.

"You're going to have to put both feet on the water to learn." Minato said, his eyes twinkling.

"Can't we learn how to water walk when we're at someplace warmer?" Kakashi muttered, shaking out his ankle.

"You can't go to the Land of Waves without knowing how to water walk, Kakashi. Besides, to get to the bunker we're going to have to water walk for a while, unless you want to swim and get a cold?"

Kakashi sighed and jumped onto the lake's surface. His heart lurched as he began to wobble slightly. The slightest ripple on the water made him lose his balance as soon as he gained it. Kakashi quickly back pedaled and stepped onto land before he fell into the water.

"I don't want to do this, sensei." Kakashi said, and he definitely wasn't whining, he just didn't want to get wet. "And if I practice water walking, I'm going to get a cold anyway."

If Kakashi had been paying attention, he would have noticed Minato silently going behind him, grinning mischievously all the time, and holding his hands out to throw him in.

"What if we just get a boa- agh!" Minato grabbed Kakashi and threw him head first into the lake. It was like plunging into a bucket full of ice water, and it felt just as pleasant.

Kakashi kicked to the surface and gasped for air.

"Sensei!"

"We don't have that much time Kakashi, I needed to do something." Minato shouted back. Kakashi glared at him and tried to swim back, but Minato ran through some seals and sent a _wave_ of icy water straight towards him, making him feel even more chilled and pushing him back.

"The sooner you succeed, the sooner you can be dry again." Minato called. Kakashi scowled at him and channeled chakra into his hands, managing to get his feet onto the water, before losing his balance and falling in again.

"Little more chakra, Kakashi!"

* * *

After many attempts, half an hour of time, which Minato said was better than most but still felt too long to Kakashi, he finally succeeded in being able to walk on water. Running was still too hard for him, not even mentioning fighting on water, but Minato decided it was enough for now. He let Kakashi walk back onto land.

"S-s-sensei?" Kakashi's teeth were chattering with cold. "I-I-I'm c-col-ld. Th-his is a-a-all your f-fau-ult!"

"At least you learned how to water walk." Minato said, not looking the least bit sorry for what he did. "Here."

Minato put his hands on Kakashi's head, and Kakashi felt a wave of warmth run down his body. Immediately, he wasn't that cold anymore and he stopped dripping, though his clothing were still damp.

"I learned this handy Jutsu from Tsunade-sama. It saved many people from hypothermia." Minato said.

"I think it's the best Jutsu ever." Kakashi sighed, still revealing in the feeling of not being cold.

"We should get going." Nudging Kakashi to get his attention, Minato rolled open a map.

"We are currently here." Minato pointed to a spot near the edge of the Land of Waves. "We have to go about five miles in to here." The place Minato pointed to was near a bridge that spanned a river.

"It's currently 07:11, we have to be there by 08:00. We should have more than enough time, so there's no need to hurry." Minato stowed the scroll back into his pocket, and walked forward one step before freezing.

"What is it?" Kakashi asked curiously.

"Shh." Minato said urgently, and Kakashi fell silent. Minato was still for several seconds, then he whipped around.

"Enemies." He hissed. "There's nowhere else to hide, hold your breath and jump into the lake. Don't use chakra, it might alert them if they have a sensor."

Minato grabbed Kakashi's hand, but Kakashi suddenly remembered something.

"The summoning scroll." Kakashi picked it up from the ground. He looked at it helplessly. "It'll get wet."

Minato glanced at the direction from where he had sensed the enemies. "Give it to me." Kakashi handed it to him, and Minato quickly threw it into a clump of grass.

"But-" Kakashi started to protest, but Minato grabbed his collar.

"Inhale." As soon as Kakashi did, Minato pulled them both into the water where there were lots of plants, hoping they would hide the ripples. Kakashi grabbed onto a rock, Minato did the same.

Kakashi couldn't see much of what was happening outside of the lake, the sun shining down on them made it too difficult. He hoped it would continue shining, making the lake's surface too bright to stare at, or else the clear water would expose them easily.

Then, Kakashi saw a dark shape flash by. Three more followed it. Ninjas, no civilian could move that fast. They were moving fast, but Kakashi could tell that they were going in the same direction that the meeting place was. He hoped it was a coincidence, but there weren't many other reasons for ninjas to be in the Land of Waves.

The ninjas were soon out of sight, but Minato didn't move until Kakashi had almost ran out of breath. When he gave the all clear signal, Kakashi swam to the surface and gasped in a large breath. Minato did the warmth Jutsu again, and Kakashi quickly went to the clump of grass that they hid the scroll in.

It was still there.

Heaving a great sigh of relief, Kakashi tucked it into his pouch. He was definitely getting a water proof case when he was going back.

To an empty house, but this wasn't the time to think about it.

"I'm pretty sure I sensed two jonins and two chunins. They're most likely from the Mist village." Minato said, looking in the direction that the Mist ninjas had come from. "If they're going in the same direction as us...there must be an information leak. Perhaps they intercepted the message, but it was coded."

"What if they somehow figured out the code?" Kakashi asked. He knew a few basic Konoha codes, but he's pretty sure they wouldn't use those that even Academy students could easily remember to write messages.

"If they did, they must have an exceptional coder. The code should be almost impossible to crack." Minato said. "We should hurry. Between us and the two ANBU at the meeting place, we should be able to handle it."

"Should we catch up to them and attack?" Kakashi fingered a kunai, excited by the prospect of a fight.

"No, we'd be outnumbered two to one. I'd rather not risk it."

They went at the fastest speed Kakashi could manage, but they made sure they stayed well behind the Mist ninjas. While they were running, Kakashi was still wondering how the Mist ninjas could have found out about the meeting. A thought suddenly struck him.

"What if there's a spy in the village?" Kakashi asked suddenly. Minato glanced at him seriously.

"There's probably is a spy in Konoha somewhere." Minato said nonchalantly, as if that was no big deal. At Kakashi's shocked glance, Minato hurried to explain further. "I mean, we have spies in the other villages as well, so it's likely that there's a few in our village. Like Roshi, remember? Luckily he got exposed before he could reveal anything important, but it's not like we don't have any safety measures to protect information from spies. But that's a good theory, I'll alert Hokage-sama when we get back to-"

Kakashi saw Minato suddenly stop talking and look intently at the space in front of them.

"Sensei?"

"Kakashi, stop! Don't move!" Minato yelled. It was then that Kakashi saw the glint of a trip wire in front of them and tried to stop, but it was too late. His momentum carried him straight into the tripwire. Immediately after he had tripped over the tripwire, the hissing sound of many explosive tags filled the air.

A hand grabbed his arm, and Kakashi felt something being thrown. A second later, he was on a tree, and the hissing of the explosive tags weren't as loud as before. He had an instant to realize that he was about ten meters away from where he just was, he was facing away from the explosive tags, and something, someone was behind him, shielding him from the impending blast before the tags went off.

The blast knocked him and Minato forward into a clump of bushes. Even though he wasn't close to where the tags were, the heat still blistered his skin and the smoke filled his lungs. He couldn't hear anything except for the ringing in his ears.

After what felt like hours, the heat disappeared and the earth stopped shaking.

"Ka...shi. Get...up. Ca...yo...ar...me?" That sounded like Minato's voice. Kakashi heaved himself up. The ringing in his ears was subsiding.

"Sensei?" Kakashi croaked out, then coughed violently. Through watery eyes, he looked up. Scorch marks were all over Minato, and soot stained his hair. When he turned to look at the place where the explosive tags were, Kakashi saw that the back of his jonin vest was burnt black. Kakashi could still feel the heat from the explosion.

"Get up Kakashi! To your right!" Minato shouted. Kakashi glanced right, and quickly rolled backwards to avoid the barrage of kunai that were thrown towards him, making him distance himself from Minato. He pushed himself to his feet just as the four ninja from before appeared between him and Minato. The headbands on their forehead confirmed Minato's guess that they were from the Mist.

"Minato Namikaze, student of Jiraiya the Sannin. Kakashi Hatake, son of Konoha's White Fang. An honor to meet you." One of the ninjas said. He was tall and broad, with narrow gray eyes and short black hair swept to one side. The confident air that he had around him and the way the other three looked to him for commands led Kakashi to believe that he was the leader and one of the two jonins of the four.

Minato glanced at Kakashi before focusing his gaze back on the leader.

"An honor to meet you as well." Minato replied in kind. "What are you doing so far from your village?"

"I could say the same to you." The leader answered. "Well, I suppose if you must know, a little rat told me yesterday about a meeting happening here, and that the student of Jiraiya and the son of Konoha's White Fang was invited too. Our kage wanted us to meet them before they got _too_ famous, so we came."

' _A rat.'_ Kakashi frowned. _'Was his choice of words coincidental? Or does he want us to know that there is a spy in our village? Or maybe that's what he wants us to think, and there isn't a spy. But what if he knew that we would think that and planted a clue in plain sight? Gah, my head is hurting.'_

"Enough chat." The leader said suddenly. "Zanku, take care of the White Fang's kid. We'll deal with Jiraiya's student."

"Gladly." Zanku smiled wickedly. Her imposing height, wild black hair, and startling red eyes have her a fearsome look. She touched a seal on her wrist, and a kusarigama, a sickle with an iron ball attached, appeared. "It'll just be you and me, little boy."

She charged at him, the iron ball swinging towards his head while the sickle swung at his chest, forcing Kakashi to leap back. The iron ball crashed into the ground by his foot, creating a small crater.

Behind Zanku, Minato threw one of his Flying Thunder God kunais towards Kakashi, but the kunai was blocked by the leader. The three ninjas formed a line, separating Minato from Kakashi.

"I know all about your teleporting technique. How about you just forget about the kid and focus on us, huh?" Kakashi heard the leader said before they attacked Minato, forcing them farther and farther away from each other.

A sharp pain in his right shoulder made him realize that not focusing on Zanku was a mistake.

Kakashi reeled back, clutching the wound with his left hand. It felt like the sickle had hit bone, and judging by the amount of blood flowing down his arm, it was pretty large too.

"Come on. I know I'm only a chunin, but I'm still more than enough to deal with a little genin." Zanku flicked the sickle and splattered Kakashi's face with his own blood.

Kakashi wiped the blood off calmly. He reached back and fingered the hilt of Sakumo's tanto.

"I'm not a genin." Kakashi grinned. "I'm a chunin, so that makes you the same rank as a six year old. Doesn't it."

"You?" Zanku snorted. "Well, let me show you the difference between a chunin that got promoted out of sheer luck and favoritism and a chunin who actually earned her rank."

"I earned my rank fair and square, I guess you'll be the first one to see that." Kakashi could feel the weight of his father's tanto on his back. He had taken it from where it had been thrown aside carelessly by the Uchiha Police and ANBU. Kakashi knew how to use it, it had been one of the first things Sakumo had taught him. Except...using the blade that had taken his father's life gave him a chill every time he though about it.

"Enough talk, kid." Zanku lifted her arms up and started swinging the iron ball above her head, prepared to release it at any moment. "Let's see what you've got."

Zanku suddenly swung the iron ball towards Kakashi, at the same time, the sickle went low, attempting to eliminate his ability to run.

Kakashi tightened his grip on the tanto and channeled chakra through it, bringing the blade over his head in a wide arc. The chakra reinforced blade slammed into the iron ball, stopping it dead, while Kakashi jumped over Zanku's sickle and aimed a kick right at her face.

Judging by Zanku's shocked eyes, she was not expecting him to have Konoha's White Fang's legendary "White Light Chakra Sabre" in his hands. The glowing white light blinded her for a second, allowing his kick to connect solidly with her face, snapping her head back and sending her to the ground.

Kakashi didn't waste a moment. He landed on her stomach, kicking the sickle away from her hand. The iron ball that the tanto had blocked was falling to the ground, it's momentum stopped, so he was free to aim a slice right at her throat. The slice would have connected, if her hand hadn't suddenly reached towards him and grabbed his wrist, stopping the tanto from doing anything except for a thin slice on her chin.

"I'll admit, you're pretty good for a six year old, but as if I care. If it was your daddy holding that tanto and not you, I might have been afraid. But I wouldn't lose to a brat trying to play grown-up. Maybe give it twenty years and you'll be as good as your father, but right now, any chunin could easily defeat you." Zanku forced his hand back, making the point of the tanto near his throat. He couldn't move the tanto away, the strength of a six year old was nothing compared to the strength of a grown woman. It was either letting the tanto go or letting the tanto kill him.

And Kakashi found that he just couldn't let the tanto go. It was the only thing left of his father's.

So Kakashi did something that he knew would cause Minato to give him a ten hour long lecture on how he was incredibility dumb for a so called genius.

Kakashi stopped channeling chakra through the tanto. He grabbed the blade with his right hand ignoring how it cut deeply into his palm, and forced it away from his throat.

In the Academy, in one of the human anatomy classes they had learned about how getting a deep wound on your hand might permanently make you unable to be a ninja. The teacher had said there were lots of nerves on the hand, and a deep cut might damage the nerve beyond repair. At best your hand would only lose feeling in small areas, and at worst your hand would be paralyzed. That was why, their teacher had emphasized repeatedly, that no matter how cool characters in movies had looked when they grabbed a sword then walked away like it was nothing, that they should never, ever do that unless they wanted to quit being a ninja or if there was absolutely no other option available.

But Kakashi was beyond caring.

It had hurt more than he expected. A lot more. As Zanku pushed back, the blade sliced into his hand, cutting through nerve and muscle and blood vessels. He almost let go, but he needed a moment more, just a little more chakra.

"Can't you just die already?" Zanku snarled as the hand that wasn't holding his wrist groped around for her kusarigama. Her fingers had brushed the edge of the sickle, cutting her palm in the process, when Kakashi suddenly let go of his tanto and brought his arm up, deflecting the blade using his arm guard when it fell towards him.

"What are you-" Zanku began as she finally grasped her kusarigama, but Kakashi didn't let her finish. He forced his right hand to run through the seals despite the pain for the Lightning Jutsu that Minato had taught him right before the chunin exams.

"Lightning Style: Electromagnetic Murder!" The humidity in the air and ground enhanced the Jutsu, making it larger and stronger. The Jutsu made Zanku's body glow blue as the lightning streaked towards her...only to have it hit a rock.

' _Substitution Jutsu.'_ Kakashi thought, picking up his sword from the ground. _'Now where did she go?'_

* * *

Zanku crouched behind a bush, expertly masking her chakra. If there was one thing Zanku was good at, it was hiding her chakra. Even her sensei had failed to sense it when she was but a genin. She was confident that the kid, no matter whether he was the White Fang's kid or not, couldn't even hope to find her.

' _Now I'll just wait until his back is turned, then…"_ Zanku fingered her kusarigama eagerly, wincing a little when she accidentally pressed the wound on her palm against the handle. It was bleeding profusely. _'I'll kill the White Fang's son. Serves him right for killing so many ninjas from our village.'_

Kakashi was still looking around, back pressed against a tree. _'Smart kid.'_ Zanku huffed. ' _Oh well, an explosive tag should do it.'_

She began wrapping an explosive tags around the hilt of her kunai. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she remembered there was something the White Fang was also known for. Something about his mother being an Inuzuka, a clan that was more canine like than any other clan. That led to his eyesight being really strong or something, or was it his hearing? Or was it smell? Wait, that made sense, she was pretty sure it was smell. A bit of panic made her tense. What if he could smell her, and knew where she was? Zanku forced herself to calm down. She glanced back at Kakashi, who was scratching his head with a confused look on his face.

Zanku snorted softly, this was just a kid, she didn't need to worry so much. She had fell into a lake on the way when her teammate had playfully shoved her in, and that probably masked her scent, at least a little bit. Besides, even if he got the chance to memorize her scent during the fight, he was just a kid. Sure, he claimed to be a chunin, but he was probably lying about his chunin status anyway. She relaxed her guard, and wrapped her palm in bandages. The metallic smell of blood filled her nose.

She froze.

The smell of blood. If she could smell it clearly, then...if the kid had inherited his father's sense of smell, it wouldn't be much of a challenge to follow the scent of blood.

Zanku immediately grabbed her kusarigama and looked where she had seen Kakashi last. He was sniffing, judging by the movement at the place where his nose was under the mask. He sniffed, then slowly turned towards her. She crouched in anticipation.

A slight noise behind her was the first thing that alerted her something was wrong.

The slight "poof" sound accompanied by some smoke coming from where Kakashi was last was the second.

Zanku turned, holding her kusarigama in front of her.

The blindingly white blade swinging towards her was the third.

She cursed her lack of attentiveness.

* * *

Zanku blocked the blade with the handle of her kusarigama. Kakashi bit his lip as it jolted his hand and shoulder wound.

"How did a kid like you master the Shadow Clone Jutsu?" Zanku hissed.

"Like I said, I'm a chunin." Kakashi replied before channeling even more chakra into the blade. The blade absorbed it all, and began growing even brighter and hotter. Zanku narrowed her eyes against the light, but held her weapon firmly.

Kakashi poured one last big surge of chakra into the tanto.

Zanku's eyes widened in fear as the tanto cut through the metal handle of the kusarigama like it was nothing but paper and continue its path until it buried itself in her stomach, slicing through ribs and arteries and muscles easily until it came out through her back.

Kakashi felt sick as he saw the gruesome whiteness of her bones and the dark red of blood, with the silvery white tanto buried in her gut, and his hand that held it.

His beloved father, lying on the ground with blood pooled beneath him, the tanto imbedded in his stomach.

The two images overlapped, until he saw himself holding the tanto that was in his father's stomach.

Kakashi blinked furiously, and the image went away. The fear and guilt still remained.

' _I was the cause of the two lives lost on the blade. Two people, gone forever...all because of me.'_


End file.
